CPI(M) hits out at govt over PM-SVANidhi scheme

The CPI(M) on Tuesday hit out at the government over its new scheme for street vendors, saying the Centre should make cash transfers and arrange for free foodgrains for all those who lost their livelihood due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During an interaction with beneficiaries of the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM-SVANidhi) Scheme in Uttar Pradesh through video conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government has acknowledged the honesty and hard work of street vendors by offering them loans that were inaccessible to the poor in the past.

"As PM Modi launches yet another 'yojana' -propaganda jumla- for street vendors, this is the truth. Immediately give cash transfers to all who lost livelihoods & free foodgrains to all," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted attaching a news report on the rise in the urban poor due to the coronavirus pandemic. The PM-SVANidhi scheme was launched on June 1 to help street vendors resume their livelihood activities after they were hit hard by the pandemic.

During the interaction, Prime Minister Modi had said, "Those doing politics in the name of the poor had created an atmosphere that if a loan is given to them it would not be returned. Those who had themselves been involved in scams had always put the blame for all dishonest things on the poor." Today the poor have been linked to the banking system and loans have been given to street vendors who are repaying them in time, Modi said..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)