Street Vendors in India: Children of a Lesser God?
As the Mumbai municipal truck turns into the crowded city by-lane, street vendors begin to run helter-skelter. Panic is palpably in the air as tarpaulin covers are hurriedly pulled over legitimate wares, modest attempts at display on wooden carts are taken apart in the blink of an eye, and baskets of vendors’ goods are handed furtively into the permanent shops that line the pavement. For hawkers and street vendors, unexpected visits from municipal authorities are akin to a goonda raid. They create the same terror and usually have the same consequences: harsh punitive measures and open extortion.
But it is indisputable that India needs her 20 million street vendors. They are the most visible and ubiquitous segment of the country’s vast informal sector. At the most conservative estimate, they generate an astounding Rs 87,600 crore of liquid cash every year, and the amount they contribute feeds 9.4 million Indians annually. Evidently though, their contribution to the national economy is not significant enough for them to be treated with the dignity they deserve. Macroeconomic reasons apart, street vendors are indispensable to the urban Indian population. Reaching a widely dispersed clientele, serving thrice as many customers as shops in low-income neighborhoods, selling essential goods at 10-30% less, and operating flexible hours to suit their consumers, street vendors are integral to India’s socio-cultural life.
The need to promote protect street vending is obvious. But a startling new study of hawkers across seven Indian cities shows that the real story is one of government apathy and neglect, of arbitrary and conflicting laws, restrictions, harassment and forced evictions, rampant corruption among local authorities and an almost perverse desire to deny a community its economic freedom.
The three classes of street vendors
Although ‘street vendors’ are commonly regarded as a homogenous category, the community actually has a well-defined structure and hierarchy. It comprises three groups:
- Stall owners: Their establishments are temporary structures – usually a raised wooden platform or tall trolley under a tin shed or tarpaulin sheet. The basic structure stays in place – the vendor simply sets out his wares daily. Typically, these are vibrant and busy stores that open early and close very late.
- Stores on wheels: These vendors push a cart or ride a bicycle to which a cart is attached. Though potentially mobile, they set up shop in the same location every day, and function as a mini neighborhood store. They shut shop at dusk and move away with their cart, to return the next day.
- Fully mobile vendors: These vendors travel on foot or on bicycles, crying out their wares as they go. While they usually have a particular beat and cover certain neighborhoods daily, their absolute mobility allows them to experiment in new areas. The limitations of carrying goods on a bicycle or on their person, and the limited exposure to a fixed clientele place this group at the bottom of the pyramid.
Relative numbers, relative vulnerability
For the first time ever, PRAHAR’s seven-city survey assigns relative percentages to the three classes of vendors, allowing a level of population analysis that was earlier impossible. Stall owners comprise 35% of the vendor community, stores on wheels comprise 45% and fully mobile vendors comprise about 20% of the community. Given PRAHAR’s finding that about 2.5% of the population of any metropolis comprises street vendors, the break-up of types of vendors can quite easily be calculated, basis city population figures.
The different classes of vendors experience different degrees of vulnerability to local officials. Fully mobile vendors are harassed much less by police and local authorities than owners of stores on wheels. Because of the tendency of stores on wheels to set up in more or less the same neighborhood daily, they are quick to come under the scanner and money is extorted from them to let them conduct business. Due to their fixed locations, stall owners are the most vulnerable, often having to pay 20–30% of their earnings as bribes or hafta to goons and the authorities. Thus the paradox: those street vendors who independently invest the most in their business are also the most vulnerable, and stand to lose the most, while economic logic would suggest that they should have been given all possible institutional assistance in their struggle to rise from poverty.
CAMPAIGN IN TAMIL NADU
To execute the campaign in Tamil Nadu, PRAHAR tied-up with the Street Vendors Federation, Tamil Nadu, who in-turn facilitated a tie-up with all 10 street vendor associations in the state, including Tamil Nadu Manual Workers Union.
In conjunction with Street Vendors Federation, TN, PRAHAR conducted a number of activities in the state of Tamil Nadu to raise awareness on the issues being faced by the street vendors and tabling of recommendations to the government of Tamil Nadu & other key public departments.
The key activities in the campaign included:
A seminar involving street vendor associations and some aggrieved street vendors, was conducted on May 31, to better understand the concerns of street vendors in Chennai. The seminar was attended by Union Leaders from all Corporations (10) in Tamil Nadu, and aggrieved vendors from Chennai and other TN districts.
Research study via direct engagement with Street Vendors, to understand and validate concerns of street vendors about issues that are causing the harassment and loss of livelihood. Over 10,000 pamphlets were also distributed to street vendors during this phase.
Public Hearing where street vendors raised their concerns to an eminent panel of jury members, including:
- Mr. Abhay Raj, Executive Committee Member & National Coordinator, PRAHAR
- V. Mageshwaran, State Coordinator, Street Vendors Federation, Tamil Nadu
- MG Diva Sagayam IAS (Retd.) Former Commissioner Chennai Corporation
- Ambrose Red, IAS Former Home Secretary.
- Mr Gandhi Raman Writer & Social Activist.
Public Demonstration: on August 1, 2011 and submission of a memorandum of demands to the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu, and Municipal Commissioner – Chennai. The demonstration was conducted outside the Memorial Hall, Chennai, where street vendors raised their demand for protection of their livelihoods, implementation of uniform Central law and cancellation of all anti vendor rules/acts like the 100 Yards rule, Police act and municipal act.
Release of Findings of the Study via a press conference: organized in Chennai on Sep 17, 2011. The press conference was covered by key media in the state of Tamil Nadu.