New Delhi: Appreciating the Modi government’s PM-Swanidhi scheme for street vendors, an SBI research report said that around 75 per cent of its beneficiaries come from the non-ordinary category, of which the OBC category accounts for 44 per cent. According to the report, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes account for 22 per cent of the total loan disbursements allocated under the ‘PM Swanidhi’ scheme, which ensures ‘inclusive entrepreneurship’, while 43 per cent of the total beneficiaries are women.
According to this report by SBI researchers, the fact that nearly 75 percent of the scheme’s beneficiaries belong to the non-general category shows the intrinsic strength of schemes aimed at bringing about transformative change. This report by SBI Research comes in the midst of the ongoing political debate in the country focusing on Other Backward Classes (OBC). The opposition is demanding a share for OBCs according to their large population, while the ruling BJP is accusing it of politicking the issue.
Sharing the report on social media platform ‘X’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “This in-depth research by Soumya Kanti Ghosh of State Bank of India (SBI) paints a very clear picture of the transformative impact of the PM Swanidhi scheme. Ghosh, Chief Economic Advisor, SBI Group. “The report reflects the inclusive nature of the scheme and highlights how it promotes financial empowerment,” he said.
The Prime Minister has also shared key points of the report on his website. The website said that the PM Swanidhi Yojana is a ‘major success’ for the purpose of economic upliftment. The government launched the scheme on June 1, 2020 to help street vendors badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic to resume their business. Arrangements were made to give working capital loans up to Rs 50,000 under this scheme.
According to this report, more than 65 percent of the beneficiaries who took loans under the PM-Swanidhi scheme belong to the age group of 26-45 years. Under the scheme, around 70 lakh loans have been disbursed in three installments so far, with a total value of over Rs 9,100 crore. More than 53 lakh street vendors have benefited from this.
The research report says that the PM Swanidhi Yojana has worked to seamlessly connect marginalized urban small traders by breaking down community barriers. According to this, the proportion of people who pay off the first loan of Rs 10,000 and take the second loan of Rs 20,000 is 68 percent. The ratio of people taking second loan of Rs 20,000 and third loan of Rs 50,000 is 75 percent.