PM SVANidhi Scheme: The Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme, which is most commonly known as PM SVANidhi is a central sector scheme that was launched in June 2020 to help street sellers and vendors in the country. As we all know, the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus not only affected millions of people physically but also financially. In order to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, the Government of India imposed a lockdown on the whole nation. This decision affected the working sector in the country, however, street sellers and vendors who were earning their livelihood on a day-to-day basis were adversely affected.
Therefore, on 1st June 2020, amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs announced the launch of the PM SVANidhi Scheme, specifically to help the street vendors who were affected during the pandemic. If you are interested in knowing more about PM SVANidhi Scheme, then you are going to get all the necessary information here in this article. In this blog, we will be covering PM SVANidhi Scheme features, benefits, the application process, and more.
What are the Features of the PM SVANidhi Scheme?
To know about the PM SVANidhi Scheme features, read the following points that are given below.
- The PM SVANidhi Scheme is a Central Sector Scheme, therefore the beneficiaries are funded by the central ministries directly.
- The scheme has been implemented from March 2022.
- At first, working capital of Rs. 10,000 is going to be provided to the beneficiaries.
- Any vendors working in semi-urban, urban and rural areas before March 24, 2020, are entitled to apply for the loans under this scheme.
- The vendors who have received loans under this scheme shall be provided an Interest Subsidy of 7 percent if they make repayment early or on time. In addition to that, they will also be granted higher loan amounts than the previous transactions.
- The loans provided to the vendors under this scheme are completely collateral-free.
- For promoting the ‘Make in India and Digital Transactions,’ the vendors might be offered with cashback incentives on monthly basis. This cashback may range from INR 50 to INR 100.
What are the Objectives of the PM SVANidhi Scheme?
The PM SVANidhi Scheme comes with profitable objectives that are very helpful for vendors who earn their livelihood on daily basis. The scheme not only helps the qualified candidates to get loans, but it is also helping in securing the upcoming future along with implementing the use of technology. Here is the list of objectives of the PM SVANidhi Scheme:
- The key objective of the scheme is to offer a working capital loan to the eligible candidates of Rs. 10,000 at subsidized rates of interest.
- Encouraging timely loan repayment to make the process easier, more beneficial, and cost-effective.
- Another objective of this scheme is to create awareness, maintain safety protocols during the Covid-19 situation, encourage to move toward Digitalization, along with helping the vendors by providing them rewards in terms of loans.
What Are The Lending Institutions Supporting PM SVANidhi Scheme?
In general, there are many banks that have been wisely selected, specifically for this scheme to provide loan facilities to the eligible vendor. Here is a list of lending institutions that are partnered with this scheme:
- Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)
- Small Finance Banks (SFBs)
- Scheduled Commercial Banks
- Self-help group Banks (SHG)
- Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs)
- Cooperative Banks
- Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)
PM SVANidhi Scheme Eligibility Criteria
This government launched scheme provides loans to all the eligible street vendors who are active on and before 24th March 2020. Here is a list of eligibility criteria:
- The street vendors who are recognized by the ULBs or Urban Local Bodies or have the Certificate of Vending or Identity card issued by ULB, are only eligible to apply for this scheme.
- The Vendors who haven’t received a Certificate or Identity card, but are recognized in the survey are going to be provided with a Provisional Certificate of Vending. According to the request of the Government, those vendors will be offered permanent identification cards that are issued by the ULB.
- The street vendors who have issued a Letter of Recommendation (LoR) by the ULB or TVC (Town Vending Committee) are also eligible to apply for this scheme.
- The vendors who live in or are active in the peri-urban or rural areas can also apply for this scheme if they have a letter of recommendation from the ULB or TVC.
- The vendors verified by the ULB/TVC and have left their area of operation because of the coronavirus pandemic are also going to be eligible for the loan once they arrive back and start again their businesses.
How to Apply for the SVANidhi Scheme?
The interested and eligible candidates can apply for loans under the SVANidhi Scheme. For this, they need to visit a Banking Correspondent or any MFIs Agent that is near their area. The Common Service Centre (CSC) will help the eligible street vendors throughout the complete application procedure.
The ULBs consist of a list of all the identified street vendors, and their personnel helps in guiding the registered candidates to smoothly go through the application process.
In general, there are two different ways through which qualifying candidates can apply for the loans under this scheme. The first method to apply is through the mobile application and the next one is through the official online portal, the link for which is https://pmsvanidhi.mohua.gov.in/. You can opt for any of these methods, or else you can take the direct help of the aforementioned assisting bodies.
Final Words
The key objective of this scheme is to offer credits for the working capital to the street vendors of the country in which they will be provided a loan for one year. These loans will be provided at low-interest rates and are collateral-free so that they can easily resume their businesses which will be a great help to them specifically during this covid situation. One should take note to verify their eligibility before approaching any facilities in order to avoid crowds during the Covid-19 pandemic situation. If you need more information, then you can also visit the official site of the SVANidhi Scheme.