Mukhyamantri Svanidhi Yojana of Rajasthan aims to

Correct — option (3), empower street vendors.

The scheme's name points to its target group. It takes its name from the Union government's PM SVANidhi — PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi — which its official portal describes as a special micro-credit facility for street vendors.

Rajasthan's Economic Review 2024-25 lists Mukhyamantri SVANidhi Yojana among the poverty-alleviation programmes run through bank credit. A First India report of 29 December 2024 described it as a Local Self Government Department scheme of collateral-free loans in three phases — ₹10,000, ₹20,000 and ₹50,000 — with a 7% interest subsidy on timely repayment.

The same report said it reaches urban unorganised workers left out of PM SVANidhi, such as hawkers, gig workers and domestic workers. Of the four options, only street vendors names a livelihood group, and the scheme's name and phased-loan model come from the Union scheme for street vendors.

The idea to remember: SVANidhi stands for Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi — credit for street vendors.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  empower BPL families — The scheme's target is defined by livelihood — street vending and similar urban work — not by BPL status.

  BPL shows up in other Rajasthan schemes. The Aastha Scheme, for example, gives the benefits of BPL card holders to families with two or more members with more than 40 per cent disability.

• (2)
  empower SC/ST families — The scheme is not framed around caste categories. Its name and its Union model both point to street vendors, whatever their social group.

  Schemes that list SC and ST among their beneficiaries are different: RPSC's 2016 paper, for instance, keyed the Anuprati Yojana for cash incentives to SC/ST/SBC candidates and BPL candidates of OBC and general categories selected in civil services examinations or admitted to IITs, IIMs and national-level medical colleges.

• (4)
  empower pregnant and lactating women — Maternal health and nutrition schemes serve this group, not a credit scheme for vendors.

  RPSC's 2023 paper keyed Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana for a scheme aimed at the health and nutrition of pregnant and lactating women and their infants (0-6 months).

Street vendors trade from carts, stalls and pavements and often need small sums of working capital. PM SVANidhi, launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in June 2020, was set up to give them small working-capital loans.

Its portal says the scheme is available in States and UTs that have notified rules and a scheme under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

Rajasthan's Mukhyamantri SVANidhi Yojana carries the same credit model into a State scheme. As reported in December 2024, it extends phased, collateral-free loans to urban unorganised workers who fall outside the Union scheme.

Key facts

• PM SVANidhi stands for PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi; its portal calls it a special micro-credit facility for street vendors.
• PM SVANidhi was launched in June 2020 by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• PM SVANidhi covers States and UTs that have notified rules and a scheme under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.
• Rajasthan's Economic Review 2024-25 lists Mukhyamantri SVANidhi Yojana among poverty-alleviation programmes run through bank credit.
• Under the earlier Indira Gandhi Urban Credit Card Scheme, ₹710 crore had been disbursed to 2,49,000 beneficiaries up to 31 March 2024.

Common traps

• PM SVANidhi is the Union scheme; Mukhyamantri SVANidhi Yojana is Rajasthan's. The word 'Mukhyamantri' marks the State scheme.
• The Indira Gandhi Urban Credit Card Scheme also offered loans to urban street vendors in Rajasthan. The same target group appears under two scheme names, so identify a scheme by its name, not by the group alone.
• 'Svanidhi' reads like the Hindi for 'own fund', which can suggest a general self-reliance fund for any group. In PM SVANidhi the letters stand for Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023 and 2018 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  PM SVANidhi, a Government of India scheme, is a micro-credit facility for –

  • (a)street vendors
  • (b)self-help groups of rural women
  • (c)small and marginal farmers
  • (d)exporting MSMEs
  Answer(1) — The name stands for PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi, and its portal calls it a special micro-credit facility for street vendors. Options (2), (3) and (4) name groups the scheme is not built for.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to the Economic Review 2023-24, under which scheme of Rajasthan were ₹50,000 interest-free loans made available to street vendors in urban areas ?

  • (a)Indira Gandhi Urban Credit Card Scheme
  • (b)Aastha Scheme
  • (c)Sukhad Dampatya Yojana
  • (d)Silicosis Policy
  Answer(1) — The Review describes ₹50,000 interest-free loans for street vendors in urban areas under this scheme. Option (2) gives BPL benefits to families with disabled members, option (3) gives marriage assistance to specially abled persons, and option (4) supports silicosis victims.