LUCKNOW: Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday, August 11, was told that over 54.70 lakh street vendors are operating in the country with the highest number recorded in Uttar Pradesh with 9.87 lakh vendors. Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, stated that Delhi has 97,952 vendors. However, the Capital does not provide a certificate of vending (CoV).
Under the Street Vendors Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act 2014, urban local bodies are responsible for conducting surveys for identification and certification of street vendors. According to Kishore, Uttar Pradesh has issued 5,68,671 CoVs and Maharashtra has issued over 29,162 CoVs.
The Minister also informed that Jammu and Kashmir has 29,655 street vendors but has not issued any certification. Under the Prime Minister’s initiative for uplifting the situation of street vendors, PM Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi), over 42.92 lakh loan applications have been received out of which, 22.62 lakh loans have been accepted. The scheme allows a vendor to avail a loan of up to Rs 10,000 in the first leg.