Port Blair, Feb 5: Ms. L. Manga, a masala cum dry fish vendor located at Gandhi market, Aberdeen Bazaar, is one of the beneficiaries who has attained big relief after availing the loan facility under PM SVANidhi scheme.

Life has not been very kind to Ms. L. Manga, an asthma patient in her late fifties who support her severely ailing husband, suffering from mouth cancer for past 5 years and is completely bed-ridden. Adding to her misery was the death of her young son, two years ago due to heart disease. He has left behind his wife with two small kids to be taken care of.

Now, Manga is the sole bread earner at home supporting five members which includes her bed-ridden husband and her widowed daughter-in-law with two young kids. Her only source of meagre income is from the petty masala vending, which too came to a halt with the surge of the pandemic. She recalls with tears in her eyes that life had come to a standstill, and she went through fear, anxiety, depression, with worry as to how to feed her family. The family was faced with a question of survival.

Her fears turned real when all her savings got exhausted and her family had to struggle very hard for one meal a day. It is then that she came to hear about the PMSVANidhi scheme, from the PBMC office and applied for the micro credit loan facility of Rs 10000/- with the assistance of the staff at facilitation counter. The loan facility came as a big relief and saviour for her as she could feed her family and get stocks for restarting her business. She expresses her heart felt gratitude to the Administration and PBMC for the much needed respite and support.