AGARTALA: The Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), the flagship micro-credit scheme of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), has completed six years of providing financial support, digital inclusion and social security to street vendors across the country.

Later came a meeting led by Union minister Manohar Lal, overseeing housing and urban matters, alongside Tripura's leader Manik Saha. Present were small traders helped through the PM SVANidhi initiative, arriving from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, and local areas.

What followed was the handing over of financial tools - credit access and approved lending documents - to city sellers based in Tripura. The moment unfolded without ceremony, yet carried weight for those involved.

Introduced in June 2020, during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PM SVANidhi offers small interest-bearing credit without requiring security deposits to city-based hawkers. Despite its modest beginnings, the programme now plays a central role in bringing low-income metropolitan workers into regulated monetary systems. While not universally adopted, it continues shaping access to banking services for informal traders across urban India.

At the event, Manohar Lal spoke about the initiative being introduced as a response to the effort street vendors put into city economies. Not merely focused on smoother loan availability, the PM SVANidhi aims - through steady support - to uphold respect, self-assurance, and monetary stability among those it serves.

So far, the program has reached above 75.5 lakh street vendors, based on government figures. Across India, lending without security stands at over 1.12 crore approved cases, while funds released have gone beyond Rs 17,800 crore.