Leaderspeak | Associated Schemes
Creating prosperity with social security for street vendors Street vending provides employment to millions of migrants and locals in cities and towns. Generally, these are people who could not get jobs in formal economic activities for whatever reasons hence lack social and health security for themselves and their families. The government is trying to build an eco-system where they cannot just become a formal part of the urban economy but also access social security schemes of the governments
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treet vending is increasingly accepted as an essential aspect of urban economy and city life, yet most city planning does not have adequate space for their inclusion. Street
vendors work in an unfavourable and uncertain environment despite playing a significant role in the urban economy and providing services and products to common people at affordable rates. A significant issue for street vendors is to get legal status to sell their products
A progress report released in January 2019 by the Centre for Civil Society said that the state-level progress remained sluggish, and implementation disregarded several provisions of the Act. The Act states that each Urban Local Body (ULB) should have at least one TVC. Currently, there are only 2,382 TVCs for 7,263 ULBs in India. Moreover, 42% of these TVCs do not have vendor representatives, defeating the purpose of a ‘participatory committee’. Only 4 out of 28 states and 2 Union Territories (UT) that responded to requests for data have a grievance redressal committee
32 April 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in
and services without fear of eviction or confiscating of their assets. While the problem is closely related to their legal status, it should be approached from an urban planning perspective. How spaces are defined and planned is critical for street vendors, who are seen to occupy ‘public’ land and disturb order in ‘public spaces’. The challenge for policymakers now is to translate the newfound recognition of street vendors.
Street vendors, their rights and limitations
Almost three decades ago, the New Delhi Municipal Committee evicted Sodhan Singh, a street vendor who used to sell garments at Janpath in New Delhi. Singh filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the Supreme Court, saying that the action of the NDMC violated his fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India. In its judgment in the Sodhan Singh versus NDMC, 1989, the Apex Court ruled that “If properly regulated according to the exigency of the circumstances, the small traders on the sidewalks can considerably add to the comfort and convenience of the general public, by making available ordinary articles of everyday use for a comparatively lesser price. An ordinary person, not very affluent, while hurrying towards his home after
