Street vendors flay Trichy corpn for poor focus on loan mela

Trichy: Street vendors including the representatives of street vending committee have criticized Trichy corporation for poor publicity in conducting a special camp to award loans and other benefits for vendors across the city. While the camp has been under way since June 8, some vendors claimed that their representatives were informed only on Wednesday, the final day of the camp. Due to the poor response, corporation, which claimed that the vendors were already notified, has planned to extend the camp till June 12.

The camp ‘Lok Kalyan Mela’ supported by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) was organized to provide low interest loans to street vendors up to Rs50,000, promoting digital payment platforms for business, and social economic profiling of family members.

“If vendors apply directly with the banks for loans, the process will be hectic, but such camps help them in expediting and simplifying the loan application process. Unfortunately, many vendors were not aware,” R Ganesan, representative of the street vending committee said.

There are more than 6,000 street vendors in the city, enumerated as of 2024. The camp will also sensitize street food operators to comply with food safety norms.