Indian Economy News

22.7 lakh loans amounting to Rs. 2,243 crore have been disbursed to street vendors under SVANIDHI scheme

The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 is implemented by respective States/ Union Territories (UTs) by framing their respective Rules, Scheme, Bye-laws and Plan for Street Vending. So far, Rules under the Act have been notified by all the States/ UTs. Scheme has been notified by all the States/ UTs except Lakshadweep and Ladakh. Meghalaya has its own Street Vendors Act, 2014.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is implementing Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors’ Atma Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme (PM SVANidhi) since June 01, 2020 to facilitate working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000 of 1-year tenure to Street Vendors, vending in urban areas, to resume their businesses, adversely impacted by the pandemic. On prepayment or repayment, they are eligible for an enhanced working capital loan of up to Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 50,000 in the second and third tranches respectively. In addition, ‘SVANidhi se Samriddhi’ initiative, designed to build safety net for the beneficiaries’ families by linking them to existing socio-economic welfare schemes of Government of India. It was launched in January 2021 for 125 select cities.

As on July 26, 2021, 43.1 lakh loan applications have been received, out of these 25.2 lakh loans have been sanctioned and 22.7 lakh loans amounting to Rs. 2,243 crore have been disbursed. In addition, Socio-economic profiling of 5.1 lakh beneficiaries along with their family members has been completed and 1.5 lakh scheme benefits have been extended.

Street Vendors engaged in vending in urban areas as on or before March 24, 2020 are eligible for benefit under PM SVANidhi Scheme.  The eligible vendors are identified as per following criteria:

• Street vendors in possession of Certificate of Vending / Identity Card issued by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
• The vendors, who have been identified in the survey but have not been issued Certificate of Vending / Identity Card.
• Street Vendors, left out of the ULB led identification survey or who have started vending after completion of the survey and have been issued Letter of Recommendation (LoR) to that effect by the ULB / Town Vending Committee (TVC); and
• The vendors of surrounding development/ peri-urban / rural areas vending in the geographical limits of the ULBs and have been issued Letter of Recommendation (LoR) to that effect by the ULB / TVC.

In Maharashtra, as on July 26, 2021, loans have been disbursed to 1.6 lakh street vendors amounting to Rs. 164 Crore.  In Mumbai and Pune, loans have been disbursed to 6,395 and 6,169 Street Vendors respectively.

In addition, socio-economic profiling of 14,094 beneficiaries along with their family members has been completed and 7,998 scheme benefits have been extended in Maharashtra. Mumbai and Pune are not part of 125 cities where ‘SVANidhi se Samriddhi’ is being implemented

PM SVANidhi is a Central Sector Scheme.

In Maharashtra, as on July 26, 2021, 4.2 lakh loan applications have been received, out of these 1.9 lakh loans have been sanctioned and 1.6 lakh loans have been disbursed. In Mumbai, 21,527 loan applications have been received, out of these 8,526 lakh applications have been sanctioned and 6,395loans have been disbursed. In Pune, 12,107 loan applications have been received, out of these 6,946 lakh loans have been sanctioned and 6,169 loans have been disbursed.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Mr. Kaushal Kishore, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.