Vendors are not able to avail of the Rs 10,000 loan scheme, announced by the Prime Minister recently, because of a host of issues, including poor internet connectivity and the absence of a phone number-linked Aadhaar card.

Forms for the Prime Minister’s Atmanirbhar Nidihi Yojna are to be submitted online. But applicants say they are being fleeced by operators of cyber cafes who are charging exorbitant amounts to help them.

“Mobile phones of a majority of street vendors are not linked to their Aadhar cards. Hence, they are facing difficulty in getting an OTP while submitting forms,” said Sneham Sinha, the district coordinator of National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI).

“And even if someone does have his/her paperwork in order, they aren’t able to submit their forms due to server problems,” said Sinha, who handles activities of the pan-India organisation for vendors in Dhanbad.

Captcha identification is the other problem as most street vendors are unlettered and are, therefore, unable to key in the correct digits during online submission of forms. “Ultimately, it seems those who need the loan scheme the most will not be able to benefit from it,” Sinha, said.

Vendor Sajeev Singh agreed. “Earlier, Dhanbad Municipal Corporation had distributed forms to be filled up manually street vendors. Now, since the forms have to be filled online some town vending committee members are doing the job. But they are only helping those whom they know. Others are being ignored,” Singh said.

City manager of National Urban Livelihood Mission of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation Santosh Kumar, however, denied the allegations. “We are providing all kinds of support to street vendors for the online submission of forms,” he said, but admitted that inadequate documentation was a problem.