Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the transfer of approved loans for over one lakh beneficiaries under PM SVANidhi Yojana in Maharashtra. 

The scheme funded by the ministry of housing and urban affairs is targeted at street vendors and seeks to provide them credit for working capital for their business which suffered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

PM SVANidhi

• Street vendors represent a very important constituent of the urban informal economy and play a significant role in ensuring availability of the goods and services at affordable rates at the doorsteps of the city dwellers. 

• The goods supplied by them include vegetables, fruits, ready-to-eat street food, tea, pakodas, breads, eggs, textile, apparel, footwear, artisan products, books/stationery, etc. The services include barber shops, cobblers, pan shops, laundry services, etc. 

• The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns adversely impacted the livelihoods of street vendors. They usually work with a small capital base and might have consumed the same during the lockdown.

• MoHUA has been implementing Prime Minister Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), a central sector scheme, since June 1, 2020.

• It aims at facilitating collateral-free working capital loans up to Rs 10,000, to about 50 lakh street vendors.

• The scheme has successfully crossed the 30-lakh mark.

• It will open up new opportunities to this sector to move up the economic ladder.

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