The Minister was speaking at PM SVANidhi Mega Camp here. As part of this event, loans were distributed to 10,000 street vendors.
Hardeep Singh Puri (File Photo)
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said the aim of the SVANidhi Yojana was to restore the Swarozgar, Svavlamban, Swabhimaan of street vendors.
Elaborating about the context of conceptualisation of PM SVANidhi scheme, Puri said the scheme was launched during the pandemic when India’s street vendors were among the most harshly affected.
The Minister was speaking at PM SVANidhi Mega Camp here. As part of this event, loans were distributed to 10,000 street vendors.
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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 crore 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 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, Puri said the scheme has provided much-need support to “our brothers and sisters in Delhi from the street vendor community”.
He said, “As of 14 February, 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 crore. With the disbursement of 10,000 loans in today’s Mega Camp, the milestone of 2 lakh loan disbursement in Delhi will be crossed.”
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