Chance to talk to PM puts these street vendors on cloud nine
Street vendors here are an excited lot ever since they have heard of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled interaction with three local beneficiaries of the PM Street Vendors’ Aatmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) on October 27.
They are Vijay Bahadur, 32, of Kashi Vihar in Daulatganj, Shashi Sonkar, 42, of Chandar Nagar and Kanchan, 25, of Indira Nagar.
The Centre had launched the scheme on June 1 to help poor street vendors hit by the pandemic resume livelihood activities.
Vijay Bahadur is enthralled after knowing that he will have an opportunity to interact with the prime minister. Bahadur, who sells ‘laiyya channa’ to eke out a living, said,“I am lucky to get an opportunity to interact with the PM. I would like to thank him as he is the only prime minister who has thought about a common street vendor like me. I will surely suggest him to increase the ‘swanidhi’ amount from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 so that we can expand our business. I will invite Modiji to my stall in Chowk.”
Shashi Sonkar, who sets up her stall at Chander Nagar Gate in Alambagh where she sells readymade kids garments, says, “I am told by the officials that Prime minister Narendra Modi would be interacting with me on October 27. My family and I are very happy about it. Besides, I thank him (PM) for the loan of Rs 10,000.”
A visibly elated Kanchan, a vegetable vendor, said “I never thought in the wildest of my dreams that I will get an opportunity to interact with the prime
A street vendor in Lucknow.
PM WILL INTERACT WITH THREE BENEFICIARIES OF PM SVANIDHI SCHEME FROM LKO ON OCT 27
minister. I will request the prime minister to direct the authorities not to remove our stalls and that civic officials should not harass us.” Although 37,400 street vendors are registered in Lucknow, PM Modi will interact with three beneficiaries from the state capital by connecting virtually with them. Nidhi Bajpai, project officer, district urban development authority, confirmed it.
Gokul Prasad, the general secretary of Lucknow National Alliance for Street Vendors India (NASVI), said, “I thank our prime minister for thinking about the street vendors who form the backbone of Indian economy. Indian middle class, lower middle class and lower class survive on these vendors and not on showroom sales. All the street vendors of the state are thankful to PM Modi for helping them with Rs 10,000 loan.”