Manipur to provide loans to 20,000 vendors whose businesses hit by lockdown

"At least 368 vendors were benefited under the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor's Atmanirbhar Nidhi, and 449 licenced vendors were provided financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana," it said. Singh said his government is aware of the fact that the vendors are facing hardships in the last five months as their businesses were hit by the lockdown.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said on Tuesday that his government will provide loans to around 20,000 vendors whose livelihoods were affected due to the lockdown. The credit will be extended to them under two central schemes so that they can restart their small businesses, he said.

As part of the financial assistance programme, the chief minister distributed loans to 817 vendors on Tuesday, a statement issued by the government said. "At least 368 vendors were benefited under the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor's Atmanirbhar Nidhi, and 449 licenced vendors were provided financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana," it said.

Singh said his government is aware of the fact that the vendors are facing hardships in the last five months as their businesses were hit by the lockdown. "Loans would be provided to around 20,000 vendors from different parts of the state," the statement quoted the chief minister as saying.

Singh said the state government is consulting with the banks for smooth disbursement of loans to the crisis-hit vendors. The Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor's Atmanirbhar Nidhi is fully funded by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs with the objectives to facilitate working capital loan up to Rs 10,000 for street vendors and hawkers.

The scheme will incentivise the vendors for regular repayments, an official said. It will help formalise the street vendors and open up new opportunities, he added.