VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will be launching Jagananna Thodu scheme on Tuesday, which aims at providing a helping hand to small and petty vendors across the State. Under the scheme, an interest-free loan of Rs 10,000 will be provided to 3.7 lakh small and petty vendors at an expenditure of Rs 370 crore. The scheme was launched by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on November 25, 2020 and this is the second consecutive year the scheme is being extended to benefit the small and petty vendors.
In the first phase, Rs 535 crore was disbursed by the banks to 5.35 lakh beneficiaries and the government paid Rs 29.42 crore towards interest for phase-1 beneficiaries. In the phase-2, the State government has decided to extend financial assistance to 3.7 lakh beneficiaries through Sthreenidhi Credit Cooperative Federation and APCOB, covering all the eligible beneficiaries by sanctioning loans in rural and urban areas. The government will pay another Rs 20.35 crore as interest on the Rs 370 crore loan.
The main objective of the scheme is to free vendors from paying heavy interest to the loans taken from private parties. The banks will be providing loans to all the eligible members and the government shall pay the interest of the loan amount to banks, by reimbursing it to beneficiaries’ accounts. Vegetable vendors, fruit vendors, small shopkeepers, pushcart vendors and traditional artisans are eligible to apply for this scheme.