Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday launched the PM Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, aimed at extending unsecured loans of up to Rs 10,000 each to street vendors, but named it in his honor. , drawing criticism from the BJP.
The Chief Minister renamed the Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in his honor as ‘Jagananna Todu’, claiming that the state government would pay all interest on the loans.
Criticizing the Chief Minister for this, the state BJP pointed out that Jagan usurped yet another central scheme and named it his own.
“PM SVANidhi has been incorporated as part of the post-Covid-19 Atma Nirbhar Bharat package.
It is shameful that the Chief Minister has changed the name of the schemes, ”BJP Secretary General of State S Vishnuvardhan Reddy said in a statement.
Under PM SVANidhi, providers who benefit from loans are eligible for a seven percent interest subsidy.
The AP government, however, made it a zero-interest scheme, saying that the interest amount would be repaid every quarter and credited to the borrowers’ account.
The Center introduced PM SVANidhi as a special microcredit service for street vendors to help them resume their businesses after the Covid-19 Unlocking. Launching the plan through a video conference with some of the beneficiaries, the Chief Minister said that street vendors had a crucial stake in the economy, but that until now they have been forced to rely on private lenders for working capital needs. .
“Street vendors are in the unorganized sector and do not have access to institutional credit. Private lenders charged interest of 3, 4, or even 10 percent. We wanted to usher in a change in their lives by offering them institutional credit, ”said Jagan.
In the first phase, 9.05 lakh street vendors in the state would receive Rs 905 crore as an interest-free loan, he said.
“If you repay the loan promptly, the banks will grant new credit, even larger amounts, added the Chief Minister.
He assured that no eligible providers would be left out of the plan and that the application process would continue for another month or two. Ministers PRC Reddy, Botsa Satyanarayana, A Suresh, M Sankara Narayana and officials participated in the event.
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