Puducherry CM appeals to street vendors to operate without hindering traffic, pedestrians

Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy has appealed to street vendors in the Union Territory to operate their businesses without causing hindrances to members of the public.

Distributing loan sanction letters to street vendors under the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme on Friday, he said business opportunities for vendors were growing in Puducherry, especially on weekends, due to the increase in tourist arrivals. “We want vendors to make use of these opportunities without hindering traffic and pedestrians. They should function without causing disturbances,” he said.

Complimenting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing the scheme, the Chief Minister said hawkers could benefit immensely as it helped them to avail of collateral-free loans of up to₹10,000 as a first instalment, with an option of further instalments of ₹20,000 and ₹50,000 subsequently, provided the applicant repaid the first instalment properly.

When the scheme was introduced in the UT, as many as 1,567 vendors obtained the first instalment. But only 608 of them reapplied for the second instalment of ₹20,000 and only 57 hawkers availed of the third instalment. “It is a good scheme for vendors to expand their business and make money. Proper repayment of the loan will help them to get more assistance from the banks,” the Chief Minister said.

Touching upon the schemes introduced by his government, the CM said the administration would soon launch the scheme providing ₹50,000 as a fixed deposit sum for a newborn girl and a subsidy of ₹300 per month for LPG cylinders in a year. The schemes, announced in the budget, would be implemented in a time-bound manner, he added.

The government has also sanctioned ₹66 crore for the constituency development fund of legislators. The sanctioning of this amount in the beginning of the financial year would help MLAs take up development work in their constituencies, he said.

Minister for Civil Supplies A. K Sai J Saravanan Kumar said a loan mela for street vendors would be organised in all the UT’s regions. He urged banks to distribute the loan amounts at the earliest. He also appealed to beneficiaries to repay the loans on time.