Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has remitted ₹526.62 crore into the bank accounts of 5.10 lakh small- and petty vendors towards interest-free loans under the third phase of Jagananna Thodu scheme on February 28. On the occasion, Mr. Reddy said the scheme was aimed at benefiting the small and petty businessmen in the unorganised sector by providing them working capital and financial assistance.
He said that so far, 14,16,091 such businessmen and women benefited through the scheme. The total disbursement to them amounted to about ₹1,449 crore. Terming these businessmen as essential service providers, the CM said the government was not only facilitating the availing of institutional credit but also relieving them of the interest burden.
He said that the scheme was being implemented twice a year and urged the beneficiaries to repay their loans on time to avoid overdues.
Further, Mr. Reddy said those who were left out of the scheme could either contact the volunteers concerned for inclusion and get any doubts clarified by calling the phone number 08912890525.
He observed that 82% of the small vendors across the country have lost their income due to COVID-19, but in Andhra Pradesh, the government stood by the downtrodden communities and credited ₹1.29 lakh crore through DBT into their accounts.
In this regard, A.P. stood in a better place than other States as per a report of Dun and Bradstreet. Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, special Chief Secretaries Y. Srilakshmi (Municipal and Urban Development), Y. Ajay Jain (Housing) and Rajat Bhargava (Revenue) and others were present.
