PM SVANIDHI (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Govt. Schemes)

Context: 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 disbursed 50 lakh loans to 39 lakh beneficiaries in the three years since the scheme’s launch in 2020.

PM SVANidhi

• The PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on June 01, 2020 for providing affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown.
• It is a special micro-credit facility plan to provide affordable loan of up to ?10,000 to more than 50 lakh street vendors, who had their businesses operational on or before 24 March.
• Small Industries Development Bank of India is the technical partner for implementation of this scheme.
• It will manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises.