BENGALURU: With identity cards issued by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to 25,000 street vendors expiring on December 3, vendors have urged the Palike to start a survey to issue new ID cards.
Town Vending Committee (TVC) member and Karnataka Street Vendors’ Federation president C E Rangaswami told reporters on Monday that under the PM Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), 1.78 lakh individuals in Bengaluru city have applied for a loan of which 1.44 lakh ‘beneficiaries’ have received a loan of Rs 10,000 at an interest rate of 0.7 per cent (Rs 750 per annum).
“Our main concern is that actual street vendors should not be deprived of ID cards and loans. A team comprising the BBMP’s health department, police and TVC should carry out the survey. We met the BBMP Chief Commissioner and he has directed Babu Shankar Reddy, BBMP Special Commissioner, Social Welfare Department, to look into our demand,” said Rangaswami.