SVANidhi scheme proven lifeline for vendors: Modi

As part of the event just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, 100,000 more loans under the scheme were disbursed on Thursday nationwide

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the two new Delhi Metro corridors and handed cheques to five beneficiaries of the PM-SVANidhi scheme at a public event held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday evening.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hands over a cheque to a beneficiary of SVANidhi scheme. (Arvind Yadav/HT)

As part of the event just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, 100,000 more loans under the scheme implemented by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) were disbursed on Thursday nationwide. The two new Delhi Metro lines—one from Lajpat Nagar to Saket G-Block in the south and the other from Inderlok in the north west to Indraprastha in central Delhi—were approved only on Wednesday in the cabinet meeting.

Hitting out the opposition grouping, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), the PM said they were guided by “corruption, misgovernance and fuelling anti-national agenda” while he was interested in the welfare of all for the benefit of the nation. “Previous governments did not pay any heed to the needs of street vendors, nor did they make any effort to tackle their issues,” Modi said to the gathering that included beneficiaries of PM-SVANidhi, a microcredit facility for street vendors.

“This servant of yours has come out of poverty. I have lived in poverty. That is why those who have not been cared for by anyone were not only cared for but have been worshipped by Modi,” he added.

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The PM further said that those who did not have anything to give as collateral were assured of “Modi’s Guarantee” referring to the collateral-free nature of PM-SVANidhi. To date, 6.2 million beneficiaries have received assistance worth ₹11,000 crore, with more than half of them being women, he said.

Modi said not only did the scheme bring financial inclusion to the street vendors, it also introduced them to ‘SVANidhi se Samriddhi Yojana’ through which they got benefits from other welfare schemes run by different ministries. He mentioned free ration, free medical treatment and free gas connections introduced by the government. He also highlighted the transformative approach of the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme, which allows availing free ration from anywhere in the country.

The PM said one crore houses have been allotted to the urban poor across India, of which 3,000 houses have already been completed in Delhi and another 3,500 houses are about to be completed. “The Metro network in Delhi has expanded two times in the last 10 years,” he said, adding that Delhi Metro is among the most extensive networks among the select few cities in the world.

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He also mentioned NaMo Bharat Rapid Rail connectivity between Delhi and the National Capital Region. “The central government is running more than 1,000 electric buses in Delhi to curb pollution in the city,” the Prime Minister said.

The PM SVANidhi scheme rolled out in June 2020 during the first wave of Covid-19 is a microcredit facility with which collateral-free loans up to Rs.50,000 are given to street vendors. The beneficiaries can avail Rs.10,000 as the first tranche, and upon successful repayment, they are eligible for a loan of Rs.20,000 and a third tranche of Rs.50,000 upon repayment of the second loan. Under the scheme, regular repayments are incentivised with a 7% interest subsidy, and digital transactions are rewarded with cashback up to Rs.1,200 per year.

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who heads the MoHUA, Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena, and minister of state for finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, were among the other dignitaries present at the event.