Businesses shut, only 11% street vendors benefited from PM Credit Scheme

Their businesses hit by the pandemic, the government micro-credit scheme could have helped the poorest of India's street vendors. But only 11% of them could get a loan

Naresh Upadhyay, a street vendor from Anand Vihar in east Delhi, had applied for a Letter of Recommendation (LOR) from the East Delhi municipal corporation in December 2020. This letter would have helped him avail of a loan of Rs 10,000 under the PM SVANidhi scheme, a government micro-credit programme to help street vendors formalise their businesses.

Upadhyay is among the millions of street vendors in India whose businesses have been hit by the pandemic. He had to close his kiosk when the lockdown was announced last year, and even after he reopened in January 2021, he has had few