MANGALURU: Diwali will bring good tidings for street vendors and hawkers in the state for they will get interest free loans ranging from R s 2,000-10,000. Aimed at freeing them from the clutches of 'metre baddi' operators, the coalition JD(S)-Congress government will roll out the Badavara Bandhu scheme, which minister for co-operation Bandeppa Kashempur estimates will help 53,000 vendor s, hawkers across Karnataka With no need for a guarantor, the scheme, which CM H D Kumaraswamy is expected to launch ahead of Diwali, will help 5,000 vendors and hawkers in Bengaluru, 3,000 hawkers in each of other city corporation areas and 1,000 hawkers in other districts, Kashempur told reporters on Wednesday. "I have personally heard tales of woes of hawkers and street vendors in the state capital and how the 'metre baddi' operator s fleece them," the minister said.Likewise, the department of cooperation will roll out 'Kayaka' scheme which will provide loans to self-help groups up to Rs 10 lakh at mere 4%. While half the loan amount carries 0% interest, the rest will attract 4% interest rate, the minister said. "We have already issued GO in this regard," he said, adding the scheme has been worked out in the light of demands from SHGs across the state seeking 0% interest rate loans for entrepreneurial activities.Recognising the fact that around 75% of the estimated 78 lakh farmers are still outside the net of formal institutional credit, he said the department is stepping up efforts to bring at least 15 lakh more farmers under cooperative institutional credit sector within the next year. At present, only 22 lakh out of 78 lakh farmers in Karnataka are availing institutional credit through their respective primary agriculture credit cooperative societies (PACCS), he said.In line with national thinking to link all PACCS with a common software, department has taken steps to roll it out for about 5300 PACCs in Karnataka, he said.

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