Issues and Challenges for Street Vendors in Delhi

Abstract

Street vendors are an important category of informal economy actors with specific issues and challenges. Vending as a profession has been carried out all along in known history and it has been an integral part of both rural and urban culture. They cater to the needs of a large number of customers from the middle and lower income class and contribute significantly to the economy. Still, street vending is often looked down as an undesirable activity undertaken by criminals which impinges on the use of public space. The use of prefix street with the word vendors itself provides a whole new identity to them which is usually demeaning and a whole new dimension to look at their problems.Street vendors are often persecuted, live in uncertainty, and work in poor conditions with little access to infra¬structure. They face problems of eviction, bribe payment, inability to access various government facilities, lack of facilities such as toilet, lighting, etc., lack of social security and other similar hurdles. In a city like Delhi, where 2.5% of the population consists of street vendors, they find it difficult to survive. The welfare state fails to provide any social security to them. Improving the conditions of work of street vendors and their economic, social and legal status is a huge challenge for the state.With the new Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 in place, which is being seen as a landmark legislation there is a ray of hope for improvement in the status of street vendors. The Act vouches for compulsory registration, issuing license to vendors and formation of town vending committees and most importantly planned vending zones in cities. Nothing can be said with certainty about the outcome of this law. With political parties and civil society being actively involved on the issue presently which can be seen very obviously in Delhi; but at the same time common public opposing to creation of vending zones such as in Mumbai, the implementation and impact of the law is yet to be seen. This paper based on an extensive review of available secondary literature would seek to reflect on various aspects of street vending and the concerns of street vendors.