Telangana: Over 3.55 lakh street vendors get loan of Rs 10K as first instalment

Hyderabad: TheTelangana government has provided loans of Rs 10,000 as first instalment to over 3.55 lakh and Rs 20,000 as second instalment to over 97,000 street vendors across the State.

The government had identified 6.08 lakh street vendors in the State for disbursing the loan to vendors who are making essential items and food items available to people. A portion of the money generated by the daily business with a small investment is kept back to purchase goods and the rest is used for family expenses.

The vendors keep the family going on any given day's income. If there is any danger and the expenses increased, they approached moneylenders. To study the conditions of vendors and improve their economic condition, the government established a special department in urban local bodies. As part of that, street vending areas have been identified and divided into zones. A programme of recognition of vendors has been undertaken to provide financial assistance in instalments.

According to officials, the number of vendors who received the first instalment loans of Rs10,000 each was 355,250 and the number of vendors who repaid the first instalment before the due date was 191,351. The interest subsidy received from regular repayments was Rs 8.22 crore. The number of vendors who got second instalment loans of Rs 20,000 each was 97,718.

Officials said the families of vendors were sustaining themselves financially with the assistance provided by the government through the municipal bodies and basic facilities.