Question : Impact of COVID-19 and Lockdown on Street Vendors

a) whether the Government has conducted studies to assess the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on street vendors;


b) if so, the details thereof including observations pertaining to economic losses suffered by them due to the same;

c) the details of data regarding the total number of street vendors in Odisha and Rajasthan;

d) whether the Government maintains records of the socio- economic conditions of these street vendors to ensure that they are provided with sufficient financial support and if so, the details thereof;

e) the details of any credit facilities, loans or grants that have been put in place by the Government to assist them during COVID-19; and

f) the details of the number of beneficiaries likely to be benefitted by the above-mentioned schemes in respect of above mentioned States?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
(SHRI KAUSHAL KISHORE)

(a)&(b) No Sir.
However, Government is aware of the adverse impact of COVID-19 lockdown on business of the Street Vendors across the country. Keeping this in mind, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has, on June 01, 2020, launched Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, to facilitate working capital loans to Street Vendors, vending in urban areas, to resume their businesses.

(c) As on July 18, 2021, the number of street vendors reported by Odisha and Rajasthan are 94,194 and 2,32,956 respectively.

(d) Under PM SVANidhi, an initiative to conduct socio-economic profiling of its beneficiaries and their families was launched on January 4, 2021 in 125 select cities, to assess their eligibility for 8 select welfare schemes of Government of India. As on July 18, 2021, socio-economic profiling has been completed for 4,377 and 5,673 beneficiary families in Odisha and Rajasthan respectively.

(e) The objective of PM SVANidhi is to facilitate working capital loan of ?10,000 to Street Vendors with repayment tenure of one year. On timely or early repayment of loan, they are eligible for enhanced working capital loan upto ?20,000 and ?50,000 in the second and third tranches respectively. An interest subsidy of 7% is paid on quarterly basis to encourage good repayment culture and a cash back upto ?100/- per month is paid to encourage digital transactions. The Scheme also facilitates on-boarding of Street Food Vendors on e-commerce platforms.

(f) As on July 18, 2021, loans have been disbursed to 27,851 and 53,888 Street Vendors in Odisha and Rajasthan respectively.

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