Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union finance Minister announced an amount of Rs. 5,000 crores credit facility for 50 lakh street vendors in India.
On the 14th of May, during a press conference, Ms. Sitharaman announced the package for all the street vendors in India under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ms. Sitharaman said, “The government will support nearly 50 lakh street vendors with Rs 5,000 crore special credit facility.”
The Finance Minister also said the Central Government would also launch a special scheme within a month to facilitate easy access to credit for street vendors. The scheme would help street vendors to overcome the financial crisis faced during the lockdown. Since the 24th of March, India is under lockdown, as a precautionary measure to control the spread of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19.
The credit facility will have an initial working capital of up to Rs 10,000 crores to the street vendors in India with a liquidity of Rs. 50,000 crores.
Ms. Sitharaman said, “ (The) Centre has permitted state governments to utilise SDRF for setting up shelter for migrants and providing them food, water etc…We are conscious, we are attending to the migrants and giving them in various different ways.”
This is the second day announcement of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package of Rs. 20 lakh crores, announced to boost economy and help Indians suffering during the pandemic crisis.
Stay tuned for further updates.
