BENGALURU: Having unveiled the mechanism to deliver on his promise of farm loan waiver, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has now set his sights on reaching out to the pushcart vendors, footpath hawkers and small-time traders through a novel One-Day loan scheme.
Kumaraswamy, who had promised to free these segments of the urban poor from the ‘fleecing clutches of money lenders’ who provide loans at a whopping rate of 2 per cent to 10 per cent interest per day, has finalised a One-Day loan scheme without interest or nominal interest. “It would be formally announced soon,” Co-operation minister Bandeppa Kashempur said.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, a senior officer in the Co-operation department said, “The private money lenders are fleecing the poor footpath vendors and small-time traders by exploiting their need for working capital on a day-to-day basis. They are charging interest as high as 10 per cent per day. The loans a vendor takes in the morning have to be returned by the evening. The 10 per cent interest is deducted while lending the amount itself. The proposed loan scheme will come as a big relief for these small-time vendors.”
The process of setting up the necessary infrastructure to implement the new loan scheme is on, the officer said. The scheme is being seen as a politically smart move to woo the huge low-rung business community and footpath vendors as Kumaraswamy and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda are working with a clear plan to expand the party base among the urban poor too after fulfilling their big-ticket promise for the farming community.