Pulling up bankers for lagging in lending to street vendors under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) in Dakshina Kannada, Deputy Commissioner M. P. Mullai Muhilan on Saturday asked each bank to appoint a nodal officer for effective co-ordination, implementation and achieve the target.
Speaking at the district-level review committee and district consultative committee meeting for banking development, the Deputy Commissioner said that the banks cannot ask of CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau India Ltd) score with street vendors.
“Once the urban local bodies (ULBs) identify the eligible street vendors, banks need not dig deep into the credentials of the vendor who is in the unorganised sector and who does not have access to institutional finance,” Mr. Muhilan said.
The Deputy Commissioner was upset that banks refused to lend a minimum of ₹10,000 to a street vendor and indulge in “much research” for sanctioning and releasing the amount. “Hence they (street vendors) are forced to approach money lenders and are falling into the death trap,” he said.
Mr. Muhilan said that of the 10,342 lending account target, set under PM SVANidhi in the district, 4,821 street vendors are yet to be advanced (loan). “The progress is very bad. Take it seriously,” he told the bankers.
Mr. Muhilan wondered how banks in Dakshina Kannada can lag, while banks in Udupi district stood first in the State in lending under the PM SVANidhi. “Illogical reasons won’t be accepted. Branch managers should be held responsible. There is mismatch in the target set and reality (in lending) in Dakshina Kannada,” he said.
Pointing out at Karnataka Bank the Deputy Commissioner said: “Karnataka Bank is an issue (lagging behind in lending to street vendors) in the whole of Karnataka. The matter has even been discussed in State-level bankers’ committee.”
Mr. Muhilan asked banks to achieve the target set. When the Deputy Commissioner asked if the banks faced any problems in lending to street vendors, a bank official replied that there are not enough eligible street vendors to lend against the target set.
Published - August 20, 2023 12:53 am IST
