Navi Mumbai: Ganesh Deshmukh, the municipal commissioner of PMC has instructed banks to expedite in providing loans to street vendors. He held a meeting of banks regarding providing capital assistance to street vendors under the Pradhan Mantri Swanidhi Yojana.
In the meeting held with bank representatives at civic headquarters, the civic chief instructed banks to open a zero-balance account for street vendors who do not have bank accounts. He also advised bank representatives and civic officials to take care that the concerned beneficiaries should not be harassed for the non-availability of documents.
A senior civic official said, "Street vendors are a very important component of the informal urban economy. They play an important role in ensuring the availability of goods and services at affordable prices as well as the financial strength of city dwellers. The livelihood of street vendors has been adversely affected by the Covid-19 layoffs."
"Therefore, with the aim of urgently providing working capital credit to street vendors, the Central Government sponsored Prime Minister's Self-Funded Street Vendors Special Micro Credit Facility Scheme is being implemented in the state. Under this scheme, the Panvel City Municipal Corporation is assisting the street vendors in the municipal area to get loans," he added.
