Several street vendors lack awareness of the scheme, and many do not receive the funds.
Street vendors lack awareness of the loan scheme, and many face fund shortages due to banks’ reluctance to provide funds.
Ashraf, a fruit juice vendor in Shivaji Nagar, said, “I’m not aware of this scheme. If there is such a scheme, it could help me buy an electric juice machine, and increase my earnings.”
Mohammad Javed, President of All India Street Vendors Trust, stated, “None of the vendors affiliated with our Trust have received loans under the PM SVANidhi scheme. Loans seem to be selectively distributed, with only a few vendors benefiting. While some received funds during the COVID period, none of us have received any funds thereafter.”
He also said that Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) doesn’t support street vendors, prevents them from running their businesses, and is involved in corruption. “Vendors in Jayanagar, BDA Complex, Banashankari, Shivajinagar, Church Street, etc., are told to leave. BBMP officials demand money, and if not paid, they remove all vendors. We filed complaint for contempt of court with the Commissioner of Police and BBMP Commissioner as parties,” he said.
Though BBMP officials said that the scheme had succeeded in the city, their main challenge is that approximately 12,000 applications were inexplicably rejected by banks. Janardhan Achar, BBMP community organizer (Welfare), said, “We’ve successfully mobilized beneficiaries, but the main challenge is timely disbursement. Despite 1.45 lakh street vendors applying for PM SVANidhi, banks are delaying loan approvals.” In a recent meeting with 10 bankers who have provided the most number of loans, BBMP instructed them to approve pending applications within a week. However, there’s a shortage of staff to monitor all eight zonal offices, making it difficult to keep track of applications and sanctioned loans.
Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi Scheme (PM SVANidhi) is a scheme aimed towards empowering and enabling the street vendors by giving out loans up to Rs. one lakh in three installments.
Bank officials maintain that they are actively processing pending loan applications. However, they said that vendors are reluctant to leave their businesses and visit banks to submit documents. Anoop, senior manager at Canara Bank, said, “We’re instructed not to reject applications based on civil matters. When BBMP transfers applications to us, we call vendors to the bank for loan approval. However they often claim they don’t need the loan. BBMP allows application rejection on the portal, so we reject when customers decline.”
He also spoke about ongoing efforts to digitize the entire process because the vendors are reluctant to come to the banks. “Despite organizing camps, we face low attendance of street vendors. Recently we organised a camp at Town Hall expecting 500 vendors but only 50 showed up.” He said that issues like unreachable mobile numbers also lead to the rejection of applications.
Experts say that local bodies like BBMP should create a dedicated group to address accessibility issues at a micro level. Nitin Sharma, public policy professor in Pune, said, “Street vendors often lack formal education and face challenges while accessing loans due to a lack of guidance. Simplifying the application process, raising awareness in slums where many vendors run their businesses, and encouraging banks to consider minimal documentation can increase the accessibility of the scheme and maximize its result.”
