Hyderabad, 12 August: Telangana continues to lead in disbursing loans to street vendors. After distributing Rs.10,000 loan each to over 3.44 lakh street vendors in the first tranche, efforts are being made to distribute Rs.20,000 loan each to 1.52 lakh street vendors in the second tranche under the Pattana Pragathi program.
Last year, Telangana had become the first State in the country to distribute 100 percent loans to the targeted 3.44 lakh street vendors. In November last, Central Government complimented the State Government for becoming the first State to get a 100 percent loan distributed to the targeted 3.4 lakhs vendors.
Buoyed by this success, the State Government is now making efforts to extend Rs.20,000 loan each to street vendors in 142 Urban Local Bodies. This time the target is the distribution of 1.52 lakh loans and over 1.91 lakh applications have been filed.
After processing the applications, loans were sanctioned for 97,718 street vendors, and 68,882 loans were disbursed so far.
In Telangana, 3,30,841 street vendors are accepting digital payments through QR Codes. As per guidelines, Rs.100 cashback is given to each Street Vendor per month for conducting 200 digital transactions worth a minimum of Rs.25 each. The State Government has been supporting street vendors through different initiatives. Demarcation of street vending zones and infrastructure development is a component of the Pattana Pragathi Programme in all the ULBs.
