Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday here disbursed loans to 10,000 beneficiaries of PM SWAnidhi scheme in a programme jointly organized by Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD), State Level Bankers Committee, Delhi and Punjab National Bank.
Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena, Meenakshi Lekhi, Union Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs, Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Union Minister of State for Finance and Dr. Harsh Vardhan, MP, Lok Sabha were present as Chief Guests in the programme.
While addressing the event, Puri said exploitation of street vendors and workers has stopped in the country under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The benefits of the government welfare schemes under Prime Minister Modi have directly reached the eligible beneficiaries, he said adding under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, various beneficial schemes were made for the poor people. PM SWAnidhi scheme is the most special among all these schemes.
Puri stated that Prime Minister Modi had launched PM SWAnidhi scheme during the critical times of Covid pandemic. The scheme saved the livelihood of street vendors that had become difficult due to the Covid pandemic.
Referring to the achievements of the scheme, the minister stated that more than 80 lakh street vendors have benefited from this scheme. He said the percentage of women street vendors among those receiving loans under the scheme is about 47 per cent of all loans disbursed.
He said about 75 percent of the beneficiaries of PM SWAnidhi are from marginalized sections.