Modi’s credit scheme has benefited only 11% of India’s vulnerable street vendors, reveals a survey

Naresh Upadhyay, a street vendor from Anand Vihar in east Delhi, had applied for a letter of recommendation 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 lakhs 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, he has had few customers for the clothes and accessories he sells.

When the letter arrived, Upadhyay found it riddled with errors. He had specified that he was a “fixed” (permanent) vendor and had given the address of his stall, which has been running for nearly 20 years. But the letter put him down as a “mobile” vendor who ran his business from the “New Delhi Municipal Corporation area”.

Worried that he would be accused of falsifying information, Upadhyay dropped his loan plan. Many other small vendors were also issued letters of recommendation with wrong information, he told IndiaSpend.

As Upadhyay’s experience illustrates, the first phase of the two-year PM SVANidhi scheme, launched in June 2020, has…

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