PM SVANidhi restores dignity of street vendors says Housing Minister Hardeep S Puri
Scheme benefits 60.94 lakh street vendors across country: Hardeep S Puri
Loans disbursed to 10,000 street vendors in PM SVANidhi Mega Camp today
Elaborating about the context of conceptualisation of PM
SVANidhi scheme, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs
and Petroleum & Natural Gas, said that the scheme was launched during the
pandemic when India’s street vendors were among the most harshly affected. “The
aim of the SVANidhi Yojana was to restore the Swarozgar, Svavlamban, Swabhimaan of
street vendors”, he said.
The Minister was speaking
at PM SVANidhi Mega Camp here today. As part of this event, loans were
distributed to 10,000 street vendors.
Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lt
Governor, Delhi, Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Minister of State, Finance, Meenakashi
Lekhi, Minister of State, External Affairs and Culture, and Dr Harsh Vardhan,
Member of Parliament, Delhi were among the dignitaries present at the event.
Drawing attention to the achievements of PM SVANidhi Scheme, the
Minister noted that the scheme has extended more than 80.42 lakh loans to 60.94
lakh street vendors amounting to Rs 10,678 crores by facilitating
collateral-free first working capital loan up to Rs. 10,000 in the first
tranche, and then Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 50,000 in the second and third tranches
respectively. He said that the scheme has not only resulted into financial
inclusion of street vendors but has also led to their respect and dignity.
“Now, street vendors are no longer solely dependent on informal credit channels
where they were forced to pay exorbitant interest rates. The government has
provided them with an alternative.”, Puri said.
Speaking about the benefit
of the scheme to Delhi Street Vendors, Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, said that
the scheme has provided much-need support to our brothers and sisters in Delhi
from the street vendor community. He said that as of 14 February 2024, we have
received 3.05 lakh loan applications from the street vendors of Delhi, of which
2.2 lakh applications have been sanctioned by banks and 1.9 lakh loans already
disbursed worth Rs. 221 crores. With disbursement of 10,000 loans in today’s
Mega Camp, the milestone of 2 lakh loan disbursement in Delhi will be crossed.