PM
SVANidhi - GOVERNMENT SCHEME
News:
Govt sets fresh target of
63 lakh loans for street vendors by year-end
What's
in the news?
●
The Union
Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has set a new target for its loan scheme
for street vendors — 63 lakh new loans in less than six months till December
this year — after having dispersed 50 lakh loans to 39 lakh beneficiaries in
the three years since the scheme’s launch in 2020.
Key
takeaways:
●
The Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors
Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic and
the resultant lockdown to provide street vendors with small working capital
loans of Rs 10,000 each.
●
During its launch, the target was set at
50 lakh beneficiaries.
PM
SVANidhi:
●
The PM SVANidhi is a micro-credit scheme which was launched by the government in 2020 to
provide handholding support to street vendors to tide over pandemic-induced
economic stress.
●
PM SVANidhi stands for Prime Minister
Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi.
Nodal
Ministry: Ministry
of Housing and Urban Affairs
Beneficiaries:
●
Street Vendors or hawkers in urban areas
●
Street Vendors of peri-urban areas and
rural areas (Those who were street vendors as on/before 24th March 2020).
Features:
●
It facilitates collateral-free loans of ₹10,000, with subsequent loans of ₹20,000
and ₹50,000 with 7% interest subsidy.
●
There is a provision of monthly cash-back incentive on digital
payments through monthly cashback in the range of Rs. 50-100.
●
It also incentivises regular repayment of loans.