Dehradun, Dec 29 (AHN) The street vendors in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district are writing new success stories, riding high on the monetary assistance provided by the Central government under the PM Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi scheme), five years ago.

Many beneficiaries, sharing their tale of hardships and then the hard-earned success, are thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching a vendor-specific scheme, thereby effecting a 360-degree turnaround in their lives.

According to official estimates, more than 600 beneficiaries in Chamoli alone have benefited from the PM SVANidhi scheme so far.

Many beneficiaries shared that they benefited significantly from the scheme after COVID-19. They were identified by the municipality and provided with the benefits of this scheme.

As a result, their financial situation has improved, and they are earning a good income.

Beneficiary Pushkar Singh told AHN, "I received PM SVANidhi scheme benefit from the municipal authorities. It was provided to me on time, and the municipal authorities guided me properly. This has helped improve my livelihood significantly..."

"The scheme financed by the government is very good. Everyone should take advantage of it. It has helped us run our business properly," he said.

Launched in June 2020, the PM SVANidhi scheme was formulated to assist the street vendors to overcome the adverse effects of financial constraints and to restart their lost businesses during the pandemic.

However, since the inception of the scheme, it has proved to be more than financial support for street vendors and has given them a sense of identity & formal recognition for their contribution to the economy.

The purpose of the scheme was to facilitate collateral-free working capital loans to street vendors to restart their businesses, which were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A working capital loan of up to Rs 10,000 was introduced.

Considering the requirement for an enhanced loan, 2nd loan up to Rs 20,000 and a third loan up to Rs 50,000 were also introduced.