New Delhi [India], October 24 (ANI): The Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal, chaired a review meeting on the implementation of the PM SVANidhi Scheme with representatives of 33 States and Union Territories, senior officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) & Department of Financial Services (DFS), and major Banks/SLBC Conveners, in New Delhi on Friday, an official statement said.

The review was held following the recent Cabinet approval for the restructuring and extension of the scheme.

During the meeting, the Union Minister interacted with State Urban Development Ministers, Principal Secretaries, Mission Directors, DFS officials and senior banking authorities to assess State-wise progress and address operational challenges.

He called upon States, UTs and banks to accelerate efforts for awareness generation, identification of eligible street vendors, early disposal of returned applications, and faster sanction and disbursement of pending loans.

The Minister emphasized the need for concerted efforts to support street vendors in advancing from the first tranche loan to the second, and ultimately to the third tranche, thereby enhancing their creditworthiness and livelihood opportunities. He further highlighted the importance of digital on boarding of beneficiaries to ensure 100% saturation and active digital usage, and directed that all street food vendors be trained in Hygiene and Food Safety through FSSAI.

To give further momentum to the scheme, the Minister announced the launch of a month-long national drive, 'SVANidhi Sankalp Abhiyaan', from November 3 to December 2, aimed at improving outreach and speeding up application processing by ULBs and Banks.

The Union Minister reaffirmed the Government's commitment to extending timely credit support to street vendors and ensuring effective on-ground implementation of PM SVANidhi in partnership with States, UTs, ULBs and the banking ecosystem. (ANI)