COVID19 lockdown affected the businesses of street vendors, says PM Modi

Bhopal, Sep 09: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with beneficiaries of the PM Street Vendors'' Aatmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme from Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. The interaction was also attended by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The prime minister urged the small vendors to use digital modes of payments as much as possible. He also urged them to stop using plastic. PM Modi was full of praises for these vendors for maintaining cleanliness.

He added that the PM-SVANidhi scheme was launched to ensured that all these people are able to recover and restart their business. He said that this is the first time that street vendors have been put together under a structure.

The Union government had launched the PM SVANidhi scheme on June 1 to help poor street vendors impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic resume livelihood activities.

Applications of 2.45 lakh eligible beneficiaries of the scheme have been presented through the portal to banks for credit facility, out of which acceptance has been granted to around 1.4 lakh street vendors of amount worth Rs 140 crore, it said.

"The state of Madhya Pradesh stands first in the number of total applications accepted, with 47 per cent of these coming from the state alone," the statement added.

Arrangements for beneficiaries of the scheme in the state to watch the programme in public places have been made through LED screens in 378 municipal bodies, it said, noting that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, will also participate in the programme through video conferencing.