Ward level organisers to speed up PM SVANidhi in Chennai

A Chennai Corporation official said that some banks are denying loans under the scheme to several street vendors. "The organisers will coordinate the banks and the vendors. The organisers are from Chennai Corporation and Women Development Corporation," the official said.

There are more than 23,000 street vendors in the city, who are having identity cards issued by the civic body. Up to January, less than 3,000 loans were approved by the banks forcing the civic body to appoint organizers.

"We are trying to provide loan to all the registered street vendors. At the same time, street vendors without identity cards can also apply. Applications are being received from such vendors too,'' he added.

Apart from coordinating with banks and street vendors, the teams will also identify the street vendors, who are yet to apply, owing to several reasons.

The official explained that some street vendors returned to their native districts due to the pandemic and some vendors refuse to apply as they do not want loan. " However, our target is to cover all the vendors and the teams will create awareness on the benefits of the scheme."

Recently, the civic body convened a meeting with the representatives of the banks and instructed to disburse loans sooner. Based on the request made by the representatives of the banks, the civic body has released the list of coordinators.

Meanwhile, an organiser said that the street vendors are being approached at their shops, and applications are made at the spot. "After that, we coordinate with the banks to speed up the process. More than 40,000 vendors availed loans under the scheme in the city," the organizer added.