Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon'ble Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, inaugurated the PM SVANidhi Outreach Program organized by Banks and Financial Institutions in Rameswaram and Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu on 19-11-2023.
Hon’ble FM talked about various FI schemes and their monitoring mainly in aspirational districts to benefit more people and urged ULBs to create awareness about the scheme among the street vendors and motivate & promote them.
During the Outreach program, Hon’ble FM distributed sanction letters along with Sound Box/QR Codes to the eligible PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and felicitated those vendors who have done well in digital transactions. Some of the Street Vendors shared their experience on PM SVANidhi Journey with Hon’ble FM during the program. Sanction letters were also distributed to the beneficiaries under SVANidhi Se Samriddhi Program.
Hon'ble FM distributed Chandrayan-3 models to various school children of Rameswaram and Virudhunagar area to inspire them from the success of the Chandrayan-3 Mission and encourage them to work hard from the young age with sincerity and dedication.
The program was attended by the Secretary, DFS, SLBC Convener, Tamil Nadu and representatives from ULBs and Banks. Joint Secretary, DFS along with MD & CEO Indian Overseas Bank were also present in the program.
Update on PM SVANidhi Scheme:
The PM Street Vendor's Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, a micro credit scheme for urban street vendors (SVs) which aims to improve the livelihood of Street Vendors affected by the impact of Covid-19 by providing credit support to these SVs. As of 13th November, 2023, 72.44 lakh loans amounting Rs. 9,497 crores have been disbursed to more than 55 lakh street vendors under the scheme since inception of the scheme. The excellent and commendable performance of the banks have yielded fruitful results in a span of just over three years.
The Scheme was launched on June 1, 2020, provides collateral-free working capital loans up to ₹50,000 in three tranches. Under the scheme, regular repayments are incentivized with a 7% interest subsidy and digital transactions are rewarded with cashback up to ₹1,200 per year.