Abstract

There are about 1 crore street vendors and it accounts for 14 per cent of the total (non-agricultural) urban informal employment. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched a central sector scheme PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) in June 2020 amid the novel corona virus pandemic. For this scheme launched in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Government of India has earmarked a stimulus package of Rs 5,000 crore for nearly 50 lakh vendors. Till April 2021, out of total 41.23 lakh loan applications received under the PM SVANidhi scheme, around 58 per cent (23.88 lakh) have been sanctioned and about 49 per cent (20.09 lakh) have actually been disbursed. There are only four states and three union territories which have completed more than 50 per cent of the disbursement target. Overall 40 per cent of the 50 lakh target has received the loans. There are some gaps in implementation of the scheme like creation of NPAs as the loans are collateral free.

Keywords: Street Vendors, Livelihood, PM SVANidhi, Covid-19, Urban, Labour, India