Source: PIB
Context:
According to the latest data of the government, loans have been disbursed to a total of 42.7 lakh people of street vendors under the PM SVANidhi scheme.
Key-highlights of the development :
The 42.7 lakh loans amounted to 5,152.37 crore. Out of this 3.98 lakh or 9.3% were to hawkers from the minority communities.
State-wise disbursal of loans seemed to be aligned with its population, with Uttar Pradesh disbursing the maximum number of loans at 11,22,397, while Sikkim gave out just one loan.
Concerning area : There was a decline in the share of loans to street vendors of minority communities with 10.23% in 2020-21, 9.25% in 2021-22 and an all-time low of 7.76% in 2022-23.
In 2020-21, 2,10,457 loans were disbursed to minorities while it was 98,973 loans in 2021-22 and 88,609 in 2022-23.
Minority Community :
Minorities constitute about 19%-20% population of the country. As of now, six communities - Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains - come under the minority section in India.
About PM SVANiDHI:
PM SVANiDHI is a special micro-credit facility planto provide affordable loan of up to Rs. 10,000 to more than 50 lakh street vendors.
The scheme is a Central Sector Schemee. fully funded by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Eligibility: The Scheme is available to all street vendors engaged in vending in urban areas as on or before March 24, 2020.
It was announced aims to enable street vendors to resume their livelihoods,which have been hit hard due to the national lockdown.
Implementing agency: Small Industries Development Bankof India is the technical partner for implementation of this scheme. It manages the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises.
Salient features:
- Vendors can avail working capital loan of up to Rs 10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments within one year.
- On timely/early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy of 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries
- Monthly cash back incentive on digital transactions
- There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan.
- Other related schemes
SVANidhi se Samriddhi’: the Ministry has initiated ‘SVANidhi se Samriddhi’ in 125 Urban Local Bodies, selected for saturation in the first phase
In Phase 1, approximately 35 Lakh Street vendors and their families were covered.
The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014:
It was enacted to regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their rights.
The Act defines a “street vendor” as a person engaged in vending of articles of everyday use or offering services to the general public, in any public place or private area, from a temporary built-up structure or by moving from place to place.
National Association of Street Vendors of India:
NASVI is an organization working for the protection of the livelihood rights of thousands of street vendors across the country.
The main objective was to bring together the street vendor organizations in India so as to collectively struggle for macro-level changes.
