New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) A total of 30.97 lakh women street vendors have benefitted from the PM SVANidhi, making up 45 per cent of the total beneficiaries under the scheme, the government informed Lok Sabha on Thursday.
In a written reply to a question, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said that 69 per cent (around 43.68 lakh) of beneficiaries are from marginalised communities -- OBC, SC and ST.
The Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme was launched on June 1, 2020 with the objective to facilitate collateral free working capital loan to the street vendors across the country whose business had been adversely affected due to the Covid-induced lockdown.
The minister said that the scheme has been designed to support street vendors across all backgrounds, irrespective of religion, caste, creed, gender, or social status.
"45% (30.97 lakh) of total beneficiaries are women street vendors and 69% (around 43.68 lakh) are from marginalized communities (OBC, SC and ST)," Sahu said in the written reply.
The scheme provides loans in three tranches — first tranche of Rs 10,000, second tranche of Rs 20,000 subject to repayment of the first tranche, and third tranche of Rs 50,000 upon repayment of the second loan.
According to Sahu, as on January this year, a total of 45.47 lakh street vendors are digitally active who conducted 444.55 crore digital transactions, with a total transaction value of Rs 4,90,801 crore and an amount of Rs 164.77 crore has been paid as cashback for digital transactions.