As part of a Central initiative, over 9,000 street food sellers have joined food delivery services like Swiggy and Zomato, giving them access to a larger market. Until January 9, 2023, these food merchants’ combined sales on these platforms totalled INR 21.93 crores.
According to Union Minister for Urban Affairs Hardip Singh Puri, these partnerships through the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme have opened up a larger market to both vendors and consumers.
He added that over the last two years, more than 40.07 lakh loans totalling $4,606.36 crore to 45.32 lacks had been paid to beneficiaries under the PM SVANidhi. “The initiative has got an extraordinarily enthusiastic reaction from street vendors across the country,” he said.
By enabling street sellers to conduct digital transactions, PM SVANidhi has also created a platform for financial inclusion in keeping with the vision of a Digital India. I’m happy to report that street vendors have tallied 37.70 billion digital transactions worth more than 45,000 billion rupees. To encourage the usage of digital transactions, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has distributed cashback to the beneficiaries totalling INR 23.02 crore,” the Minister continued.
He stated at the opening of the 12th edition of the National Street Food Festival, hosted by the National Association of Street Vendors of India, that in addition to facilitating easy access to loans, the scheme has also provided a Parichay Board (identity board) for street vendors to give them a sense of identity and dignity in their work (NASVI).
The PM SVANidhi initiative, a microcredit facility, was introduced in June 2020 to enable street sellers to recoup losses brought on by the epidemic. The program aims to assist 50 lakh street vendors in urban areas by providing collateral-free working capital loans of up to 10,000 for a one-year term to enable them to restart their enterprises.