Addressing beneficiaries of the PM SVANidhi scheme at an event in the capital on March 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Union government has been making a concerted effort to uplift street vendors of the country.
At the event, he also laid foundation stone of two additional corridors of Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 and highlighted efforts to improve housing for the urban poor.
Praising the work being done in Delhi by the BJP-led Union government, he said, “Modi is relentlessly working to improve the lives of the poor and the middle class. My focus is on ‘Welfare of the nation through welfare of the public’, eliminating corruption and appeasement from the roots, and making India the world’s third-largest economy,” Mr. Modi emphasised.
The PM PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (SVANidhi) scheme provides collateral-free working capital loans to beneficiaries. Mr. Modi said lakhs of street vendors work very hard with dignity to uplift their families. “Their shops might be small, but their dreams are big,” the PM said, adding that money has been transferred directly to the accounts of street vendors all over the country under the scheme. He emphasised how the vendors who had earlier contributed to the informal economy are now part of the formal economy.
He said the previous government did not care for the street vendors. They did not care for their concerns which left the vendors facing disrespect and hardship. The “previous governments did not make any effort” to tackle their issues”, Mr. Modi charged.
“This servant of yours has come out of poverty. I have lived in poverty. That is why those who have not been cared for by anyone, have not only been cared for but also worshiped by Modi”, said the Prime Minister.
Until now, 62 lakh beneficiaries have received assistance worth ₹11,000 crore, Mr. Modi said. He expressed delight that more than half of the beneficiaries were women. The scheme was launched during the pandemic in 2020 to help street vendors tide over the crisis. In Delhi alone, nearly 2 lakh loans worth ₹232 crore have been distributed, the PM said. He noted that many of them had migrated from villages to cities to make a living. “PM SVANidhi not only connects the beneficiaries to banks but also opens the doors to other government benefits.”
He also touched upon how “over 1 crore houses have been allotted” to the urban poor. Referring to the massive drive to provide pucca (concrete) houses in place of jhuggis (slum dwellings), Mr. Modi said that 3,000 houses have already been completed in Delhi and 3,500 houses are nearing completion.
Delhi Metro
Mr. Modi said that the “Delhi Metro network has expanded twice in the last 10 years”, and the capital is now among the select few cities in the world with such extensive Metro coverage. Laying the foundation stone of two additional corridors of Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 - Lajpat Nagar-Saket G-Block and Inderlok-Indraprastha, the PM said the combined length of these two corridors will be more than 20 km and will help improve connectivity and reduce traffic congestion.
The stations on the Lajpat Nagar-Saket G-Block corridor will be Lajpat Nagar, Andrews Ganj, Greater Kailash–1, Chirag Delhi, Pushpa Bhawan, Saket District Centre, Pushp Vihar, and Saket G-Block. The stations on the Inderlok-Indraprastha corridor will include Inderlok, Daya Basti, Sarai Rohilla, Ajmal Khan Park, Nabi Karim, New Delhi, LNJP Hospital, Delhi Gate, Delhi Sachivalaya, and Indraprastha.
The Prime Minister concluded, “Dreams of common citizens joining hands with Modi’s resolve is a guarantee of a bright future”.
