As part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a festival was held in Delhi on Friday to highlight some of the scheme's success stories and educate street vendors about the Central Government's SVANidhi initiative, which aims to make them self-sufficient. Meenakshi Lekhi, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, inaugurated the day-long celebration, which was held in the evening at a public school in Naraina Vihar, Karol Bagh Zone of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. "The MCD is organising SVANidhi Mahotsav for street vendors under the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' and the purpose is to bring awareness among the street vendors' community about this Central Government scheme as well as showcase some of the success stories to the people, " Deputy Commissioner of Karol Bagh Zone of MCD, Shashanka Ala, told PTI.

 

During the festival, we would also be digitally onboarding many vendors, and make them aware of the scheme that is to make them self-reliant. We as civic authorities, identify and recommend names of vendors who can be a potential beneficiary of the scheme and also later facilitate in the loan process by the banks," she said. 

 

In early July, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched SVANidhi Mahotsav as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. 

 

In this article, let us see what SVANidhi Mahotsav is all about?

 

SVANidhi Mahotsav

SVANidhi Mahotsav is a cultural festival for celebrating the success of the PM SVANidhi Scheme and the SVANidhi Mahotsav website. It will be celebrated across 75 cities across 33 States/UTs of the country from July 9, 2022, to July 31, 2022. SVANidhi Mahotsav is a festival for celebrating and recognising beneficiary street vendor's growth story and their contribution to the Indian economy. The festival aims to celebrate 75 years of India's independence with these nano-entrepreneurs, honouring their journey under the PM SVANidhi scheme for demonstrating credit discipline, digital behaviour and displaying their astute business acumen.

 

SVANIdhi Mahotsav will showcase a series of activities like: Cultural activities Digital transaction training Loan Mela Felicitation ceremony for distinguished street vendors Experience sharing Nukkad nataks to propagate the features and benefits of the scheme Till now the festival has been held in over 10 cities and there have been more than 85 activities and around 11,500 participated in these events.

 

S.No Date Location

1 24-Jul Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) Raipur MC (Chhattisgarh) Nagpur MC (Maharashtra) Nokha Town Panchayat (Rajasthan)

2 25-Jul Panchkula MC (Haryana) Srinagar Municipality (J&K) Adilabad Municipality (Telangana)

3 26-Jul Muzaffarpur (Bihar) Vadodara MC (Gujarat) Imphal MC (Manipur) Agartala MC (Tripura)

4 27-Jul Patna MC (Bihar) Kullu Municipality (Himachal Pradesh) Allahabad MC (Uttar Pradesh) Rajkot MC (Gujarat) Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand)

5 28-Jul Bapatla Municipality (Andhra Pradesh) Bongaigon Municipality (Assam) Sagar MC (Madhya Pradesh) Amritsar MC (Punjab) Lucknow MC (Uttar Pradesh)

6 29-Jul "Jagdalpur MC (Chhattisgarh) Ahmadabad MC (Gujarat) Indore MC (Madhya Pradesh) Pondicherry Municipality (Puducherry) Ajmer MC (Rajasthan) Greater Hyderabad MC (Telangana) Shillong Municipality (Meghalaya) Gorakhpur MC (Uttar Pradesh)"

7 30-Jul Kadapa MC (Andhra Pradesh) Surat MC (Gujarat) Chas MC (Jharkhand) Dewas MC (Madhya Pradesh) Greater Warangal MC (Telangana) Andol-Jogipet Municipality (Telangana)

8 31-Jul GVMC MC (Andhra Pradesh) Guwahati MC (Assam) Bhopal MC (Madhya Pradesh)

 

 

About PM SVANidhi scheme: 

The street vendors were adversely impacted due to the lockdown, imposed by COVID-19, leading to rapid erosion in their capital base. In 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the PM SVANidhi programme to offer hand-holding assistance to street vendors. The programme allows for a working capital collateral-free loan of Rs 10,000, followed by the loan of Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000 with a 7 per cent interest subsidies. By encouraging street sellers to embrace digital transactions, the programme seeks to expand India's digital footprint. Street vendors receive a payback of up to Rs 100 per month to encourage the use of digital transactions. Beneficiaries of PM SVANidhi and their families get access to eight Central Government agencies through a single portal through this component.