Lakhanpur among first towns selected under PM SVANidhi Street Food Hub plan

📌 Summary:

• Lakhanpur (Kathua district, J&K) approved among the first towns for a Street Food Hub under the PM SVANidhi initiative, announced by Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh
• Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs proposes up to 50 Street Food Hubs nationwide — organised, hygienic, world-class vending spaces celebrating culinary heritage while giving street vendors dignified livelihoods
• Preference to cities with high tourism potential, cultural/heritage significance and convergence with Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD, UNESCO World Heritage Sites and UNESCO Creative Cities
• Funding: ₹4 crore per project in three instalments (30%-50%-20%); additional ₹25 lakh incentive for cities that have notified their Street Vending Plan
• 126 proposals received from 32 States/UTs covering 106 ULBs and 7 census towns; technical support via Centres of Excellence for Urban Planning and AMRUT-funded centres; whole-of-government convergence of MoHUA, Ministry of Tourism and FSSAI
• Lakhanpur hub: two clusters over 1,754 sq m at the gateway to J&K; to promote Dogra cuisine and benefit Amarnath Yatra pilgrims, tourists and local vendors

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — urban welfare schemes for informal sector workers, street vendor livelihoods, centre-UT development convergence; GS3 — tourism economy

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Street Food Hub initiative under PM SVANidhi (MoHUA): up to 50 hubs; ₹4 crore per hub (30/50/20 instalments); ₹25 lakh incentive for notified Street Vending Plan
• Convergence: Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD, UNESCO sites; implemented with Ministry of Tourism and FSSAI
• PM SVANidhi — micro-credit scheme for street vendors launched 2020

🔑 Key Term: PM SVANidhi — PM Street Vendor AtmaNirbhar Nidhi, a MoHUA scheme providing collateral-free working capital loans and digital-transaction incentives to street vendors