New policy for street vending

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: You may be selling bananas, paav-bhaji, cosmetics, cigarettes, clothes or just about anything else either on a push-cart going round the streets or by simply standing on the wayside. Now, you will no longer be called a “street vendor” as the Government of India is all set to give you a new designation: “micro-entrepreneur.”
The National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2009, approved by the Manmohan Singh government, recognizes street vendors (or micro-entrepreneurs) as “an integral and legitimate part of the urban retail trade and distribution system.”
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation also drafted the Street Vendors (Potection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2009, and forwarded it to the state governments for enacting local legislations “to provide for protection of livelihood of urban street vendors and regulate street vending.”
The Union government has asked the state governments to enact legislation for regulating street vending in tune with the national policy.
While street vending is increasingly seen as a major menace in urban areas compounding the traffic problems, the national policy aims at giving street vendors a legal status and providing legitimate vending/hawking zones in city/town master or development plans. Each street vendor will be registered under the aegis of a Town Vending Committee, headed by the respective municipal commissioner, and given an identity card with a code number and category.
Though a similar policy on street vendors was brought out during the erstwhile NDA regime, the UPA government “re-looked” it since “that was found to be not practical.”
“It is estimated that in many cities street vendors account for about two per cent of the population. Women constitute a large segment of these street vendors in almost every city. Street vending is not only a source of self-employment to the poor in cities and towns but also a means to provide ‘affordable’ as well as ‘convenient’ services to a majority of the urban population,” the policy notes.
The revised policy was brought out after due consultations with all the stake-holders. This is a progressive policy, in that it addresses issues like social security, institutional finance and housing related to the street vendors. In fact, the policy has tried to give a new definition to the so-called street vending, making it more respectable.
The 2009 policy notes: “As the street vendors assist the government in combating unemployment and poverty, it is the duty of the state to protect the right of these micro-entrepreneurs to earn an honest living.” The policy has been conceived as part of a major national initiative towards alleviation of poverty in urban areas.
The spatial planning for earmarking vending zones will be done through photographic digitalized surveys of street vendors and their locations while a comprehensive digitalized photo census / survey / GIS mapping of the existing stationary vendors will also be undertaken for granting the lease. However, each street vendor will be allowed to carry out his business at a designated place only for a period of 20 years.
Other important initiatives under the 2009 policy include: providing access to credit, skill development, housing, social security and capacity building for street vendors.
“Street vendors, being micro entrepreneurs, should be provided with vocational education and training and entrepreneurial development skills to upgrade their technical and business potential so as to increase their income levels as well as to look for more remunerative alternatives,“ the policy says.