Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme has crossed the historic milestone of benefiting 50 Lakh street vendors across the country. Under this scheme, more than 65.75 lakh loans have been disbursed, with a total value exceeding ₹8600 crore.
Hailing the landmark of 50 Lakh beneficiaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X said, “I am satisfied that PM SVANidhi Scheme has not only made lives easier for street vendors across the country but also given them an opportunity to live with dignity.”
Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri took to X and shared, “A historic milestone achieved! #PMSVANidhi, the visionary scheme by PM @narendramodi Ji to help street vendors & small businesses overcome challenges during the pandemic achieves its target of reaching 50 Lakh Beneficiaries! 65.75 lakh loans exceeding ₹8600 crore disbursed!”
What is PM SVANidhi Scheme?
Designed as a micro-credit scheme for urban poor, PM SVANidhi Scheme was launched in June 2020 to help street vendors who were adversely affected by COVID-19 pandemic. The first of its kind scheme aims to integrate street vendors in the formal economy through access to formal channels of credit to provide working capital loans up to ₹50,000.
Apart from providing micro-credits, the PM SVANidhi scheme also empowers street vendors through digital payments. In partnership with lending institutions, banks and digital payment aggregators, street vendors are offered digital onboarding and training to further promote digital transactions. Over 113.2 crore digital transactions worth ₹1,33,003 crores have taken place, with ₹58.2 crore in cashback disbursed to beneficiaries.
For the success of the PM SVANidhi scheme, the Government has partnered with lending institutions, including NBFCs/MFIs and DPAs. In FY22, Paytm, India’s leading payments and financial services company, onboarded more than 35,000 street vendors under PM SVANidhi scheme.
Driving financial inclusion
Street vendors form an important part of the urban landscape, becoming an important part of the city’s ecosystem. Although a part of the informal sector, they ensure that people get access to goods and services at their doorstep at affordable prices.
PM SVANidhi scheme has been instrumental in presenting fresh avenues for upward mobility. Under the scheme, apart from access to loans, their regular repayments are incentivized with a 7% interest subsidy and digital transactions are rewarded with cashback up to ₹1,200 per year. This strengthens the credit ecosystem of the country while also boosting the Digital India scheme through Aadhaar-based e-KYC, an end-to-end IT platform, and SMS-based notifications for application status updates.
It has also laid the groundwork for creating a safety net of welfare schemes for families of street vendors. Launched in January 2021, the “SVANidhi se Samriddhi” initiative aims to connect beneficiaries’ families to eight socio-economic welfare schemes of the Government to promote holistic development. Over 51 lakh sanctions under these schemes have been granted for the upliftment of street vendors’ families.
Through financial empowerment, PM SVANidhi scheme has been taking bold strides towards alleviation of urban poverty and providing financial stability to a crucial section of the economy. The economic upliftment of street vendors will further help in economic growth of the country and also ensure that they get the benefits of financial inclusion.