Centre has joined hands with food aggregator Swiggy to take these small businesses online. The move will soon be able to have food from street vendors delivered at their doorsteps.

According to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry (MoHUA), this initiative has been launched in these five cities on a pilot basis by on-boarding 250 street food vendors.

Under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme, the move will give street vendors online access to thousands of consumers and help them grow their businesses, a ministry official said.

The ministry has coordinated with the key stakeholders, including municipal corporations, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Swiggy and GST officials, to ensure that necessary prerequisites are completed for this initiative, the official said.

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An MoU was exchanged by Joint Secretary Sanjay Kumar and Swiggy chief financial officer Rahul Bothra through a webinar in the presence of Union Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra.

Municipal commissioners of Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Indore, and Varanasi also participated through videoconferencing, the ministry said in a statement.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, when physical distancing is key to check its spread, this novel initiative aims to radically transform the business of street vendors across cities by facilitating them to receive orders and serve customers using online mode of business, it stated.