Daily loans at 0.1 per cent interest rate, Kerala govt's new scheme for street vendors

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Cooperative Department will soon introduce daily loans to save market vendors from the exploitation of moneylenders. Loans ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 50,000 will be provided. The project is named RECOOP. Recoopers (distributors) will be appointed to deliver the loans.

The loans must be repaid on the same day. The daily interest rate for a thousand rupees is just one rupee. The interest must be paid in advance. Moneylenders charge up to Rs 10 for a hundred rupees, which is a 10 per cent interest rate. The selected cooperative institutions will be responsible for distributing loans. Real-time loans will be provided using a mobile app developed for this purpose. The experiment was successful. Distribution will begin soon.

Re-coopers will be appointed in each area. Deposit loan collectors will also be used. The government has instructed that the re-cooper himself should be responsible for repayment. The primary cooperative societies suggested that strict action should be taken to ensure repayment. The central government had implemented PM SVANidhi, a small loan scheme that can be repaid within a certain number of days. The scheme was introduced to cater to the needs of street vendors. It provides loans of up to Rs 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000.