Over 54 lakh street vendors identified in 35 states, UTs: Govt

According to a written reply by Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore to a question, although Delhi has identified 79, 952 street vendors, no certificate of vending (CoV) has been issued in the national capital. 

The minister said that under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the urban local bodies have to conduct a survey for identification of street vendors and issue CoVs. 

He said, as reported by states and UTs, surveys of street vendors have been completed in 3,084 towns in the country. 

The ministry's data showed that after Uttar Pradesh which has issued 5,68,671 certificates of vending in the state, Maharashtra has identified around 6.79 lakh street vendors and issued 29,162 CoVs. 

In Jammu and Kashmir, 29,655 street vendors have been identified, but no certificate of vending has been issued, according to the ministry. In Madhya Pradesh, 5.65 lakh street vendors have been identified. 

In West Bengal, 783 vendors have been identified, but state has not issued any certificate of vending, the government's data showed. In Sikkim, there are 201 street vendors identified so far. 

Under PM Street Vendor's Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi) scheme, a total of 42.92 lakh loan applications of street vendors have been received, the minister said, adding that of these, 22.62 lakh loans have been disbursed. 

Vendors can avail a loan of up to Rs 10,000 under the scheme, which is repayable in monthly installments in the tenure of one year.