A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: A Micro-credit Camp under the PM Street Vendor's Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme was organized in Lakhimpur on Thursday.
The camp was organized under the auspices of Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM), North Lakhimpur at City Livelihood Centre/ Office of the City Mission Management Unit of North Lakhimpur Municipal Board under the management of Project Officer Anjan Jyoti Baruah.
The event was inaugurated by Jiban Rajkhowa, the State general secretary of All Assam Unemployed Association (AAYA). During the programme, HDFC Bank opened bank accounts for 78 street vendors of North Lakhimpur town with zero balance. On the other hand, loan amount of Rs. 10,000 was formally credited to a total of 20 street vendors of the town under PM SVA Nidhi. Attending the event, Cluster Head of the HDFC Bank elaborated the loan processes before the beneficiaries in the presence of Branch Manager Hansa Pratim Saikia.
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs launched the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme during the first surge of COVID-19 pandemic to empower street vendors by not only extending loans to them, but also for their holistic development and economic uplift. The scheme intends to facilitate collateral free working capital loans of up to Rs 10,000 of one-year tenure to help resume their businesses in the urban areas, including surrounding peri-urban/rural areas. The banks were instructed to provide loan to the bonafide beneficiaries with minimum documents required without harassing them in view of proper and effective implementation of the scheme. But it did not happened in reality. Many genuine street vendors have still been deprived of the benefits of the scheme. Till date, a total of 170 street vendors of North Lakhimpur town, out of the approximate 400 applicants, could manage to get the loan.
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