Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the priority given to women entrepreneurs under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana scheme during her recent announcement. The scheme, a flagship initiative of the Central government, provides financial assistance to beneficiaries. Sitharaman distributed sanction letters to beneficiaries under the PM SVANidhi Se Samriddhi program in Rameswaram, focusing on providing loans to street vendors. She urged municipal officials to identify uncovered street vendors and assist them in availing the benefits of this initiative.
SVANidhi Se Samriddhi is an additional component of the PMSVANidhi scheme, aiming to provide eligible PM SVANidhi beneficiaries and their family members access to eight Central government schemes for holistic development and socio-economic upliftment.
Sitharaman highlighted the success of the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile Trinity, emphasizing the elimination of intermediaries. She referred to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s observation that only a fraction of the assistance reached beneficiaries due to middlemen. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on using technology, such as Aadhaar cards and bank accounts, has streamlined the direct transfer of financial aid to beneficiaries.
Discussing the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana scheme, Sitharaman underlined its introduction to empower women entrepreneurs by providing loans through banks. She noted that women were accorded top priority under the scheme, with 60 out of 100 beneficiaries typically being women.
Sitharaman also provided insights into the PMSVA Nidhi scheme, designed to support street vendors through bank loans. She highlighted the scheme’s popularity and explained the incremental increase in loan amounts for timely repayments, accompanied by the provision of a QR code for additional benefits.
The Finance Minister announced that Rameswaram and Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu, identified as ‘aspirational districts,’ were selected for the scheme to promote their developmental status. Sitharaman urged media, public, and local government authorities to ensure that every street vendor in the district benefits from the scheme.
Addressing the audience on ‘entitlement vs empowerment,’ Sitharaman emphasized the importance of empowering beneficiaries to become job creators. She disclosed that 7,982 beneficiaries had already received loans under the PM SVANidhi Scheme.
Lastly, Indian Overseas Bank reported the distribution of loans to 6,679 people in Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar districts during the events organized by the bank. The Finance Minister, along with Department of Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi and Indian Overseas Bank MD and CEO Ajay Kumar Srivastava, participated in the initiatives to showcase the commitment of various banks to the success of the PM SVANidhi initiative.