Over eight lakh vendors in cities and another eight lakh in villages have registered for the Mukhyamantri Gramin Path Vikreta Aatma Nirbhar Yojana in Madhya Pradesh, said Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday.
The scheme was announced to boost small businesses in the state hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. "The businesses of all street vendors have been impacted due to the virus. And as the situation worsened, these vendors are not even able to afford a meal a day for their family," said the Chief Minister at a press conference.
As a respite, Centre had announced the PM Street Vendor Aatma Nirbhar Yojana assuring that the vendors will get a loan amount of Rs 10,000 from banks and the central and state governments would repay the interest amount on their behalf.
According to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, as many as 8,78,237 vendors in the city and almost 8 lakh vendors in the villages have registered under this scheme.
"On similar lines, the Madhya Pradesh government had announced the Mukhya Mantri Gramin Path Vikreta Aatma Nirbhar Yojana. Under this scheme, the vendors will be given a loan of Rs 10,000 and the state government will pay the interest amount," said the Chief Minister.
While interacting with the street vendors, the Chief Minister said, "This will help the vendors in both cities and villages of Madhya Pradesh to resume their work."
"We are in talks with banks and will roll out this plan for everyone in need," Chouhan said.
The Chief Minister urged the vendors to invest the loan amount in their business only.
"I request you to invest this money in your business to earn more money out of it and become independent."
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said the government will give free rations to underprivileged people in the state.
"The underprivileged sections must not worry as the government will provide them with free ration. There are 37 lakh eligible people who do not have ration cards. The government is going to give ration to these people also. With the introduction of the support scheme, the poor are getting many benefits," said Chouhan in a roughly translated tweet by the Chief Minister office.
( With inputs from ANI )