4,652 Chandigarh vendors got loan under PM scheme

Chandigarh, August 26

The Municipal Corporation (MC) has provided loans to 4,652 street vendors in the city under the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, stated Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad during a press conference on Friday.

He said as per the target set by the Union Government, Chandigarh is supposed to provide loans to at least 6,300 street vendors, and the city has already achieved 74% of the target by providing loans to as many as 4,652 vendors. Of the beneficiaries, 3,424 have already repaid their loans.

Karad has directed the MC to meet the target within a month so that more vendors could avail of the loans.

According to the details available on the official website, Chandigarh has sanctioned a total of 7,229 loans and disbursed loans to 6,795 vendors. Currently, the sanctioned amount is Rs 10.29 crore while the amount disbursed is Rs 9.95 crore.

Chandigarh has fared better than states such as Punjab, where loans have been disbursed to only 51% of the beneficiaries. Haryana has also fallen short on this front, providing loans to just 35% of the targeted vendors. By contrast, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have provided loans to 77% of the targeted vendors each. At 83%, Ladakh has done remarkably well.

MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra said the civic body is committed to meeting the targets set under the scheme.

Karad stressed that the PM SVANidhi scheme is a special microcredit facility launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in June 2020 for providing affordable loans to street vendors.

The scheme provides the beneficiaries with collateral-free working capital loans up to Rs 10,000 for a year. On timely repayment of the first loan, vendors become eligible for larger loans of Rs 20,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 80,000 in the second, third and fourth tranches, respectively. Thereafter, they are eligible for a Rs 10-lakh Mudra loan.