Study of perceptions among street vendors of Ahmedabad on “Pradhan Mantri Street vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi Scheme 2020(PM-SVA Nidhi Yojana)” -Special micro-credit program for street vendors

Abstract

Street vendors are self-employed people, who utilize Public Street to secure their livelihoods, by selling goods and services in urban cities. Covid-19 pandemic lockdown resulted in the loss of income, and they struggled for survival. Post unlock-1 in July-2020, the Government of India introduced the “Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi Yojana (PM –SVA Nidhi) “, special micro-credit program for street vendors. The scheme provides an unsecured loan of Rs 10,000 [ten thousand] to street vendors as ‘working capital’, to restart their vending activity and secure livelihood.

This paper attempts to study the perceptions and experiences of street vendors of Ahmedabad on PM SVA Nidhi Yojana.

Total 60 vendors from the central zone & west zone of Ahmedabad were surveyed to understand their perceptions and experiences. Also, lending institutions like banks and their employee were interviewed to understand various aspects pertaining to PM SVA Nidhi Yojana.

 We discovered that vendors preferred to avail loans from relatives and friends, while many avoided going for PM SVA Nidhi Yojana because of the time taken to get loan sanctions and complex documentation & procedures involved.