HEARD ON THE STREET: LOANS FOR VENDORS

For Kanwar Pal, 44, the lockdown has been nothing short of a nightmare he can’t wake up from. A resident of Sorkha village in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, Pal owned a pushcart, which he used to run his business of selling an assortment of evening snacks. During the lockdown, Pal had to shut down his business and, a few days later, sell the cart itself to be able to feed his family of six. Now, as the country resumes economic activity, Pal has no resources at hand to begin earning again.

However, there is light, albeit a faint one, at the end of the tunnel—the Centre’s PM SVANidhi (PM Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi) scheme, a micro-credit facility to provide loans of Rs 10,000 to street vendors at subsidised rates of interest. The scheme, valid till March 2022, was announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 14 and covers all vendors before March 24, when the lockdown was announced. Actual credit disbursal, though, must wait till July 1.

For the scheme to reach its intended beneficiaries, states have to revisit the Street Vendors Act, 2014. Even after six years of its passing, there remain big gaps in its implementation. A progress report on the Street Vendors Act, published by Delhi-based think tank Centre for Civil Society in the last week of May, points out that of the 3,248 urban local bodies across India, 2,063 (or 64 per cent) have completed at least one survey but only 453 have issued identity cards to street vendors. It is imperative that their respective local bodies recognise them for vendors to approach a financial institution for credit.

Sanjay Kumar, a Telangana cadre officer in the housing and urban affairs ministry and architect of PM SVANidhi, told india today that the scheme provides for even those vendors not covered under the act. “The guidelines will

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Delhi High Court rules vendors have no right to run their business on public roads and cause a nuisance

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