New Delhi, Jul 23 (IANS): The Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Saturday, assured the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) that a grievance committee will soon be set up for street vendors.

While addressing the 16th meeting of NASVI on Saturday, the minister said that street vendors were provided with capital working loans to help resume their businesses which were impacted by the pandemic.

As of July 11, Rs 3,661 crores have been provided as micro-credits to over 30 lakh street vendors which was a large figure, he added.

According to him, it is also important to have the meeting of about 4,500 Town Vending Committees, as these platforms will help address the local issues of others at the ground level.

Puri said that the design of the scheme was to offer collateral-free working capital loans of Rs 10,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively on repayment of the earlier loans to street vendors and help them plan their business expansion.

Under Phase 1 of 'SVANidhi se Samriddhi', which was launched in January, 31 lakh street vendors and their families across 125 cities were covered, he added.

Addressing the need to establish an egalitarian society, Puri said: "Our mantra is that dignity should be extended to everyone, and that the service and contribution of each individual should be recognised fairly. The vulnerable and marginalised sections of our society, especially in cities and towns, have benefitted immensely from various government-led interventions."