-Manohar Lal Interacts with Beneficiaries in Agartala, Distributes Loan Sanction Letters

NEW DELHI, May 31 (H.S.): Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal on Sunday said that more than 7.55 million street vendors across the country have benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme over the past six years. He stated that the initiative has played a significant role in strengthening livelihoods by integrating millions of street vendors into the formal banking system.

Addressing an event in Agartala to mark the sixth anniversary of the scheme, Manohar Lal, in the presence of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, interacted with beneficiaries from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura. During the programme, loan sanction letters and credit cards were distributed to street vendors from Tripura.

The Union Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM SVANidhi Scheme in 2020 with the objective of economically empowering urban poor and strengthening their means of livelihood. He emphasized that the scheme is not merely intended to provide collateral-free loans but also to instill dignity, self-confidence, and financial security among street vendors.

He noted that more than 11.2 million collateral-free loans have been sanctioned under the scheme so far, while financial assistance exceeding ₹17,800 crore has been disbursed to beneficiaries nationwide.

Highlighting the scheme’s impact in the Northeast, he said that more than 259,000 loans have been distributed in the region, providing financial assistance worth over ₹430 crore.

Referring specifically to Tripura, Manohar Lal stated that more than 9,300 loans have been sanctioned in the state to date, with nearly ₹15 crore disbursed to beneficiaries.

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the scheme has had a far-reaching impact across various socio-economic segments. A total of 3.481 million women street vendors have been empowered under the programme, while 5.184 million loans have been extended to women beneficiaries.

The Ministry further stated that more than 5.5 million street vendors have been integrated into the digital financial ecosystem, enabling greater financial inclusion and access to formal economic opportunities.

Officials reported that beneficiaries have recorded an average annual income growth of approximately 20 percent since joining the scheme. In addition, more than 30 percent of beneficiaries have progressed to securing loans from other financial sources after successfully availing assistance under PM SVANidhi.

Notably, since its launch in June 2020, the PM SVANidhi Scheme has sanctioned more than 10.5 million loans nationwide. Furthermore, under the complementary “SVANidhi Se Samriddhi” initiative, the socio-economic profiling of over five million street-vendor families has been completed.

The Ministry also revealed that more than 15.2 million benefits have been approved for eligible families under various Central Government welfare schemes, further expanding the programme’s developmental impact and social security coverage.

The PM SVANidhi Scheme is widely regarded as one of the Government’s flagship initiatives for promoting financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and economic resilience among urban street vendors, particularly those affected by the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar