Law on street vendors on anvil

Sangita Jha/ New Delhi

The Centre should initiate measures for the benefit of this unorganised sector

Street vendor is most often taken as a bridge between poverty and progress. Also, the migrations from the rural areas to the urban centres find a suitable pathway through the street vending routes. Most often the developed strata of the society scoff at the street vendors, while those near the middle income line find in them a welcome partner to make their lives better.

 While the street vendors control roughly 30 per cent of the businesses, they face the full brunt of the authorities. The municipal officials subject them to all kinds of repressive acts and the police personeel fleece them through their system of hafta (weekly or monthly sum of money), which needs to be given so that the palms of the lower to the higher ranks of the police officials are greased.

 The world woke up to the might of the street vendors through the revolution started by one of them in Tunisia, which later became the "Arab Spring', which later on embraced in its bosom a number of countries, including Egypt, Syria.

 The story goes like this, that Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, was regularly harassed by local officials and the police and when his weighing scales was confiscated he set himself on fire outside the governor's office. His actions stirred the conscience of the public and the embers of fire that raged from his fleshes spread thick and fast in the Arabian countries, while toppling a number of dictatorships.

 Notably, street vendors are an angry lot and have numbers on their sides. But they invariably lack the power to influence the policy makers, which subject them to a state of exploitations. In a bid to give voice to these large numbers of street vendors ekeing out their lives under duress caused by exploitative municipal and police officials, National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) had been mobilizing protests in various parts of the country and had recently even ghearoed the Parliament for which vendors from 15 states had come to Delhi.

The government waking up to the unabated plight of the street vendors appears now determined to regulate their trade and put in place policy to ward off their exploitations. So, the Union Cabinet recently approved a legislation to protect the livelihood of street vendors and provide them more legal vending space in urban areas. The housing and urban poverty alleviation (HUPA) ministry, which has drafted the legislation, has fixed the norms for permissible street vendors or hawkers in any city, zone or ward at 2.5 per cent of the respective population. So, Mumbai will have around 4.6 lakh legal vending space for hawkers, Delhi (4.07 lakh), Kolkata (3.5 lakh) and Chennai (2.17 lakh) once the draft legislation gets the approval of the Parliament.

 In a precursor to the government's move to come up with a law for the street vendors, the Supreme Court in 2010 in a verdict had directed the government to convert the National Policy for Urban Street Vendors into a law on the grounds that the policy had not been able to ensure the fundamental right to livelihood of street vendors.

 The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2013, which was reworked after recommendations of the Parliamentary standing committee, seeks to take away arbitrary powers  of municipal authorities and police personnel. If seeks to vest the power to frame rules and regulate street vending in the hands of town vending committee, which would have majority of members from among street vendors. But the street vendors' groups have been unhappy with several provisions in the legislation, including the one that said it will not apply to land owned or controlled by the railways.

 The NASVI, which had been agitating for a Parliamnetary law for a nong time, appears relieved after the Cabinet approved the Bill. "The revised Bill has empowered the town vending committee (TVC) to decide on almost all issues related to determining vending zones. The Bill also has strong grievance redressal mechanisms," said Arbind Singh, national coordinator of NASVI.

In a bid to organize the street vending, the legislation seeks to register them and allow them to work with dignity. Each of the street vendors will need to be registered with the town vending committee, who will be given an identity card. Such committees would include 40% elected representatives of vendor groups, 10per cent NGOs and rest comprising town planners, administrators, police and elected people's representatives.

 Furthermore, the local authority will also draw a street vending plan to be reframed every five years. The plan will demarcate vending zones and novending zones. This is intended to cut the scope of the police to exploit the street vendors. Additionally, the bill will help authorities to regulate activities of street vendors in public areas such as pavements and roads. The Bill will require town and zonal vending committees to be formed in every city that will include vendors, administrators, NGOs, police, town planners and elected people's representatives. They will identify spaces that can be used by street vendors, and register and issue licences. The NASVI president Manali Shah is of the view that the government should provide for recording of biometric measurements of street vendors so that only genuine ones are issued identity cards. "Often we have seen politicians manage licences for their people while genuine street vendors are denied," she said.

 But the big question is the ability of the town vending committee to operate and reconcile conflicting interests. Interestingly, unorganized traders who had been agitating against the government’s decision to allow the FDI in multi-brand retails trade on grounds that their businesses will be hurt appear to hold a friendly bond with street vendor’s inspite of the fact that they too cut into their business. It could be for the reason that the street vendors do not pose existential threat to the unorganized traders and retailers.

 But the challenges lie ahead for the policy makers to reconcile all the stakeholders. While the general public benefits from the street vendors, they can also be inconvenienced by them, including traffic disruptions and impediments along with obvious security risks in countries like India which had been victim of a number of terror attacks.   

Additionally, shopkeepers who pay rent, obtain all the requisite permits, pay taxes, and provide employment find the vendors squatting outside their shops selling wares at half the price and thus posing a competition at an unequal term.

On the other hand the critics are wary of the fact that the proposed legislation on the street vendors could undermine the objectives of the Right to Education Act (RTE). The children will be allowed to work on streets under the proposed legislation. The human resource development (HRD) ministry is also worried that the planned law could kill India's goal of universal secondary education.

The Bill seeking to legalize the status of street vendors allows anyone over 14 to work as a hawker with a licence. The HRD ministry is of the opinion that by allowing teenagers to work as street vendors, the law could deal a death blow to secondary education promise. The ministry is planning to take up its concerns with the housing and urban poverty alleviation (HUPA) ministry.

Launched in 2009, the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) has the declared goals of ensuring access to secondary education for all children by 2017, and universal retention by 2020. The government is also examining the possibility of extending the RTE, currently guarantees schooling to all children between 6 and 14, to cover students till 16 or even 18. But those favouring street vendors' bill argue that the law is on their side. India's amended child labour law bars children under 14 from working in any occupation, but allows those between 14 and 18 to work in "non-hazardous" jobs. The HUPA ministry is of the opinion that street vending comes under non-hazardous category.

Children supplement the income of their families engaged in the business of street vending. The risk is that the children on the streets of the country sell wares ranging from patriotic mementos and pens to cheap Chinese electronic goods and work outside the safety net of their families, while putting themselves at great risk of economic and physical exploitation.

Additionally, the HRD ministry reasons why it is essential for the government to stick to its promise of ensuring secondary schooling for all by stating that the right to education that is going to churn out a growing number of 14-year-olds who previously may not have pursued schooling but are now used to government sponsored education and higher schooling. When these 14-year-olds complete class 8, they can't suddenly be told to fend for themselves if they want education and for this reason the ministry seeks to ensure their right to secondary education. Furthermore, with over 600 million citizens under 30, India is set to become the world's youngest major economy.

 Such a huge youth population, if skilled, could fill the growing demand for skilled workers. So, even if they do not pursue higher education, they need secondary schooling to enter the skills training programmes. Notwithstanding criticism, the bill appears to have come at the right time. India roughly has about 10 million street vendors. Hailing the Cabinet approval, NASVI national coordinator Arbind Singh said, "The street vendors' struggle has yielded result. We have reached a major milestone. Once enacted, the Street Vendors Law would go a long way in protecting the livelihood, dignity and human rights of millions of street vendors."

Dance of death and destruction

Vinod Kumar/Rishikesh

Although the CAG had pulled up the Uttarakhand govt, the callous administration did precious little to improve its level of preparedness with regard to disasters. The government was at sea as how to go about the rescue operations. Timely intervention could have saved scores of flood victims.

Ramkumar Sinha won't forget the tragedy that unfolded before his eyes. It was death and destruction all around. A religious person, who has seen visited Kedarnath any times in his life, had never seen something of this magnitude except in Hollywood films.

Even as he thanks his stars for sparing his family, his heart bleeds for thousands of pilgrims who could not make it. "It will never fade from my memory. I have seen dead bodies floating like logs of wood. I never thought me and my family would come out alive. The response of the government was pathetic. We walked about 40 km to reach Rishikesh from where we were airlifted to safety."

There were children, senior citizens with serious ailments and men in his group. Some youths were carrying their parents on their back as they could not walk. There were blind men who needed to be guided. On the way, they crossed forests, slippery terrains and dangerous hills. "Our determination and god's grace saved us. The Army did a commendable job. The civil administration flopped. The administration was dumbstruck," he added.

As the rains continue to lash the Himalayan state and impede the rescue work, the death toll Uttarakhand may cross the reported 1,000 mark. However, the exact figure may be available only after the debris is cleared.

Even as thousands of stranded pilgrims and tourists were rescued by Army and Air Force personnel, the insensitive response of the Uttarakhand government came in sharp focus and criticism. Survivors I met during my journey from Rishikesh to Rudraprayag and back by road recalled the callousness of the administration which should be blamed for tragedy of this scale. Although alerts were given by the Met department, the administration did not move an inch to make preparations for an eventuality. For the first two days, the civil administration did not respond at all.

The tragedy also exposed the centre's lack of preparedness of the National Disaster Management Authority under the Prime Minister in dealing with disasters of this magnitude. The agency did not have the technology, equipment or trained personnel to manage the disaster.

The civil administration did not make provision for providing food or medical aid to thousands of victims and many died due to lack of food and medicines. The entire stretch between Rishikesh and Rudraprayag is a tell-tale of devastation. Although not much heard in the narrative of the tragedy, the locals too faced losses. The silt gushed down by the ravaging Ganga filled the houses in the plains with muck which will take great effort to clean it up.

Environmentalists say it is a man-made disaster. Ecological imbalance brought about by large scale development work played a role in aggravating the impact. Hydel projects and dams are cited as reasons for the mammoth tragedy. Houses and commercial establishments built on riverbed flouting norms were swept away. Roads built by cutting through mountains washed away. Landslides changed the topography of the area. Towns such as Srinagar, Nandprayag, Karnaprayag, Kirtinagar and Chamoli and Rudraprayag were devastated.

Successive governments have given permission to ravage eco-fragile zones to set up big projects in the name of development. The road to Rudraprayag, like those in affected areas, was fraught with dangers as it was dotted with craters caused by landslides at many places. At some points, major part of the road got washed away. As we moved down at a snail's pace, precariously perched boulders on hilltops were looked like monsters who were about to pounce upon us. For the relatives of the dead as well as survivors, the horror of the fierce calamity has left them in psychological trauma. Many who were saved from the jaws death succumbed to various ailments as medical aid was not available. Many people were suffering from pneumonia, acute gastroenteri-tis, multiple fractures and kidney damage. Experts say a possible epidemic of air- and water-borne diseases due to decomposition of thousands of bodies lying around for over a week cannot be ruled out now.

"Most survivors who are visiting the medical camps are suffering from diabetes and hypertension. They are in bad shape due to discontinuation of their treatment and starvation. We are also getting a lot of patients suffering from pneumonia," said Dr Anuj Tripathi, emergency medical officer of Fortis Jessa Ram, who is currently posted at an Army medical camp near Joshimath.

Tripathi said that a number of patients, including the jawans involved in rescue operations, are seeking treatment even for psychological trauma. Max Super-specialty Hospital in Dehradun has been flooded with people seeking treatment for orthopaedic injuries.

Many people caught in the floods fought off starvation by eating leaves and fruits found locally.

Pankaj Sharma, a survivor, is angry at the lackadaisical attitude of the state government. He left for Char Dham yatra with ten members of his family on July 12. The group mostly included senior citizen, women and children.

"We were living like cattle in Gaurikund. People were openly defecating in the room. There was no food or water. We paid exorbitant prices for water and biscuits. The police were also hand in glove with locals in looting us. In many places, local police discouraged locals from giving food to hapless pilgrims."

Women who were safely brought back were also not sparing the government. "Although we were allowed to take a helicopter, men in our family had to walk down from Gaurikund. Government officials were forcing people to walk from the area. They say they do not have enough helicopters to ferry men also. Our male relatives were abandoned and told to fend for themselves," Rani, wife of Pankaj Sharma.

he Sharmas spent four days at a Gaurikund school. "We were living like cattle there. People were defecating in the same room. Some local shopkeepers helped us by bringing food. Some locals misbehaved with our women," said Pankaj.

Shakar Rao, a senior citizen from Hyderabad, came to Kedarnath along with his wife and a few friends. Although he and his wife were lucky to be saved, he saw the dance of death and destruction before his eyes. Some of the fellowtravellers were carried away by the river in spate. They were standing on the top of a building for almost one full day. Gaurishankar Saha walked for three days in pouring rain to reach Gaurikund. They spent time atop a hill where they had barely enough space to sit. "We sat there with our toes grabbing plants atop the hill lest we fell down." His nephew disappeared on the way. While all of his family members were still in Gaurikund, Gaurishankar was airlifted and dropped at Gochar. Looking forlorn, he said, "I would wait for the rest of my family members to arrive before I leave this place."

The administration has constructed two helipads at Fata and Gochar, where people were dropped after being airlifted from Gaurikund.

This charge was repeated by Rajiv Gupta of the All India Crime Reforms Organisation. "They have made no arrangements for us to distribute food," he alleged. However, volunteers of the RSS were seen stopping buses with survivors and providing them with food and basic first aid.

The senior members of the local administration were not available for comments despite three visits to the relevant offices.

On Saturday, a number of private vehicles were seen going up the road to Rudraprayag, along with buses from the state transport corporation. Additional helicopters were also plying.

Among other aspects of mismanagement by the government, a crucial one is the fact that there exists no record of those who have gone missing. Telephone services have been affected. Out of 739 telephone towers in the three disaster affected districts of Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi, 207 are currently non-functioning.

The stench of dead bodies filled the air on the road between Rudraprayag to Rishikesh. Around 50 dead bodies were taken out from the Ganga in Haridwar on Friday, worrying locals about the possibility of an epidemic breakingout.

According to reports in local dailies, arrangements made by the administration in Dehradun caused great distress to the people, especially the relatives of the victims. They took out their ire by berating state ministers and senior members of the administration for their inefficiency and insensitivity.