PM loan scheme helps hawkers escape usury stranglehold

TIRUCHY: PM Svanidhi, a loan scheme initiated by the central government in 2020, has spelled relief to street vendors who have been reeling under the pandemic-induced curbs. The beneficiaries of the scheme anticipate increased sale, as the loans provided under the scheme, which range from Rs 10,000 to `50,000, assisted them in not relying on private money lenders. In order to avail of the benefits, the vendors are expected to submit applications on the PM SVANidhi website.

In 2020, about 3,850 street vendors in the city availed of the loan under the scheme, while 7,136 vendors were issued loans in 2021 and 7,086 in 2022. A Ansurdeen, president of the Tiruchy Street Vendors Association, "We faced heavy losses to our business during the pandemic, at a time when money lenders refused to issue loans, leaving us in a vortex of uncertainty.

Thus, this loan has brought in so much of relief for us. If the first installment of Rs 10,000 is paid in time, we could be availing of Rs 20,000 the sum in the next installment. For a loan of Rs 10,000, a street vendor has to pay Rs 877 a month and the rest would be paid by the government.

All these loans would get closed within a year." Senior officials said they have conducted several meetings to promote the loan scheme among the public. "We had conducted meetings with union leaders and street vendors to make them aware of the scheme.

Apart from this, we also conducted the verification application of street vendors in a fast track manner," a senior corporation official said. The government was initially planning to close this collateral-free loan that was supposed to end in 2022. But, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by PM Narendra Modi in April 2022, decided to extend it till December 2024.