The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) organised an event on 18th July 2024, named “Utkrishtata ki Ore Badhte Kadam: Celebrating Achievements, Inspiring Excellence” to felicitate best performers under PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Yojana and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).
Shri Manohar Lal, Minister, MoHUA, expressed his gratitude to all the stakeholders, including Central Ministries and State Governments, Urban Local Bodies, Lending Institutions, and partners, for their enormous support and contribution to the success of the schemes.
The event was attended by Shri Manohar Lal, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, as Chief Guest, Shri Tokhan Sahu, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, MoHUA and senior officials from Central Government, State Governments, Lending Institutions, Digital Payment Aggregators, key partners and most importantly, the beneficiaries of DAY-NULM and PM SVANidhi.
During the event, noteworthy achievements implemented under both initiatives were highlighted. A compendium showcasing inspiring stories of DAY-NULM beneficiaries and the Annual Report of PM SVANidhi, providing insights into the various initiatives and reforms undertaken by the scheme in the last year, were released during the event.
In addition, the Hon’ble Minister launched new features of PM SVANidhi mobile application vis. voice-based grievance tool, chatbot and e-Parichay card. The mobile application has been enhanced with additional features to streamline the user experience, including a convenient voice-based complaint submission, an efficient query resolution process and a system including effortless access to the Parichay Board, empowering the PM SVANidhi beneficiaries.
The event was organised to commemorate the outstanding accomplishments of the year 2023-24 and express gratitude to the stakeholders whose tireless efforts were instrumental in achieving those milestones. In recognition of their exemplary contributions, key stakeholders, including states, urban local bodies, and lending institutions, were honoured with PRAISE and SPARK awards for their exceptional performance in implementing the PM SVANidhi and DAY-NULM initiatives, respectively. A list of the best performers under the two schemes is in the Annex.
Enriching the event, two expert panel discussions were convened to shape the future direction of DAY-NULM and PM SVANidhi. The discussions highlighted pressing topics- “The Role of Partnerships for Sustainable Urban Poverty Alleviation” for DAY-NULM and “Creating Inclusive Spaces for Street Vendors in City Planning and Exploring Financial Partnerships” for PM SVANidhi. These discussions brought together diverse perspectives to enhance the programs’ development.
About PM SVANidhi Scheme:
The PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbharNidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, launched on June 1, 2020, is a central sector scheme that aims to provide collateral-free working capital loans up to ₹80,000 to urban street vendors incentivising regular repayment with a 7% interest subsidy, rewarding digital transactions with cashback up to ₹1,200 per year.
The scheme extends its benefits to vendors from surrounding rural and peri-urban areas, employs Aadhaar-based e-KYC, utilises an end-to-end IT platform, and employs SMS-based notifications for application status updates. All lending institutions, including NBFCs/MFIs and DPAs, are encouraged to participate, aiming to alleviate urban poverty in India. As of July 17, 2024, more than 86 Lakh loans, amounting to over INR 11,680 Crores, have been disbursed to almost 65 Lakh street vendors across India.
About DAY-NULM:
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India on September 24th, 2013, aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in an appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building strong grassroots level institutions of the poor.
The mission aims to provide shelters equipped with essential services to the urban homeless. In addition, the mission also addresses the livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security, etc. DAY-NULM has empowered 98 lakh urban poor households through the creation of self-help groups, created over 38 lakh livelihoods through skill training and entrepreneurship, and built almost 2,000 permanent shelters for the urban homeless.