RAS question
The PM SVANidhi scheme provides microcredit to:
Correct answer: (D) Street vendors.
PM SVANidhi provides collateral-free microcredit to eligible street vendors.
Explanation
PM SVANidhi, or PM Street Vendor's Atmanirbhar Nidhi, is a Government of India micro-credit scheme for street vendors. The PIB release confirms that it was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and provides collateral-free loans to eligible street vendors in incremental tranches. The loan structure matches the standard exam fact: Rs 10,000 in the first tranche, Rs 20,000 after repayment of the first loan, and Rs 50,000 after repayment of the second. Therefore, the beneficiary group is not a broad informal-worker category but specifically street vendors who need working capital support.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Factory workers are not the target group named in PM SVANidhi; the scheme is specifically for street vendors needing working capital support.
- (B) Auto-rickshaw drivers may work informally, but the cited scheme is not framed for them; it is designed for street vendors.
- (C) Small farmers are covered by farmer-focused schemes such as PM-KISAN, while PM SVANidhi is a street-vendor microcredit scheme.
Concept
This tests welfare and financial-inclusion schemes under Indian Economy. RAS repeatedly asks such schemes because beneficiary identification, ministry linkage and loan design are easy places to confuse similar livelihood programmes.