AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched Jagananna Thodu scheme on Wednesday, which aims at providing a helping hand to small and petty vendors from loan sharks across the State.The scheme was launched at the CM Camp Office in Tadepalli in a video conference with the Collectors across the state.

Interest-free loan of Rs 10,000 would be provided to small and petty vendors under the scheme and nearly 10 lakh vendors have applied to avail the scheme. For this the Chief Minister released an amount of Rs 1,000 Crore which will be directly credited into beneficiaries’ bank accounts.

The scheme took shape after YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has seen the plight of small and petty traders plagued by loan sharks for taking huge loans to run their business, during his 3,648 km Praja Sankalpa Yatra.

The objective of the scheme is to free vendors from paying heavy interest to the loans taken from private parties and falling into debts. The banks will be providing loans to all the eligible members and the Government shall also pay the interest of the loan amount to banks, by reimbursing it to beneficiaries’ accounts , he said while speakimg during the launch of Jagananna Thodu.

The State government had also started a special web portal to coordinate with banks and to implement the scheme giving no scope for corruption. The beneficiaries will also be provided with QR based smart ID cards and the scheme will be monitored by SERP, MEPMA officials.

Vegetable vendors, fruit vendors, small shopkeepers, pushcart vendors, and traditional artisans are eligible to apply for the scheme. The volunteers of the village/ward secretariat have identified 6.40 lakh beneficiaries in the recent survey and the list of beneficiaries is being displayed at secretariats for social audit. If any eligible person was not covered in this scheme, they can still apply through volunteers.