The Hindu Business Line : Street vendors demand to be organised

The roadside hawker is no insignificant entity. In a rough estimate, they contribute Rs 86,000-crore annually to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). But unorganised as they are, and notwithstanding the existing National Policy for Street Vendors, the loss of income incurred by them due to bribes, confiscation and destruction of goods amounts to Rs 500 crore in Delhi, Rs 900 crore in Mumbai and Rs 80 crore in Ahmedabad.

Demanding the creation of a Task Force to implement the street vendor national policy, over 270 hawkers from all over the country congregated at the All India Street Vendors Jansunwayi (public hearing) here on Wednesday.

Under the aegis of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), Manushi Sangathan and the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), they also demanded the commissioning of a group of senior architects and urban planners to carve out Hawker Zones and redesign pavements to accommodate vendors without inconveniencing pedestrians or obstructing traffic.

The vendors emphasised the necessity for a ward-by-ward, cluster-by-cluster photographic digitalised census of street vendors and exact mapping of the areas where they were located, in addition to replacing the present method of licensing by a simple registration process.

Among those on the dais were the Union Minister for Urban Development, Mr Jaipal Reddy, the Minister of State for Poverty Alleviation, Ms Kumari Selja, the Secretary Ministry of Rural Development, Ms Renuka Vishwanathan and the Member, Planning Commission, Ms Syeda Hamid.

They gave a patient hearing to vendors who aired their grievances and related tales of their existence on the streetside.

"The major problem we face is the difficult licensing system and the regular clearance operations by the police and the municipal authorities to collect money. This leads to heavy loss of income and forced idleness for long durations albeit heavy indebtedness," said Mr Anil from NASVI.

Ms Renana Jhabvala, National Co-ordinator, SEWA, said, "Street vendors are an easy source for bribe collection and these recommendations could help to implement the national policy which today merely exists on paper."

The 2004 National Policy for Street Vendors had recommended organising of hawkers in ward, zonal and town vending committees along with replacing the licensing law by a simple registration process. It also asked for rules to be laid down for regulation of hawkers, instead of prohibiting their trade.