Most states drag feet over PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors; here are the numbers

Sanction rate of 10 states is below 50 percent, the report said. These states are Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Sikkim and Haryana.

On the disbursement front, only seven states and UTs have achieved more than 70 percent rate. These are Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Goa.

The disbursement rate for 14 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Gujarat and Jharkhand, was 50-69 percent, while 10 states had disbursement rate of less than 50 percent, the NIE report said.

The PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme was launched in June 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme is a micro-credit facility that gives street vendors a collateral-free loan of Rs 10,000 for a period of one year at a low interest rate.

The scheme was rolled out for street vendors who were reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown. Funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the scheme aims to financially help the vendors get back on their feet. In the long run, the scheme plans to establish a credit score for street vendors, create a digital record of their socio-economic status to help them avail schemes funded by the Centre.

A vendor who has a certificate of vending from or before March 24, 2020, can avail the loan. As many states have not conducted the survey required to issue the certificate, urban local bodies can also provide a Letter of Recommendation for those vendors who wish to avail the loan.

For the Letter of Recommendation, some urban local bodies seek proof of vending, such as a photo of the vendor at the spot. The vendor needs to upload these documents, including the identification proof, on a special portal made for the scheme. Once approved, the loans are sanctioned by banks and disbursed within 10-15 days.

As of January 5, 2022, states had received 43.95 lakh applications and sanctioned 32.08 lakh applications. Of the sanctioned applications, 28.20 lakh applications have been disbursed, Financial Express reported, quoting data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.