FORMALIZING THE INFORMAL STREET VENDING
Street Vending has been an issue as illegal encroachments take up a lot of public land and create issues of traffic congestion, unhygienic conditions, aesthetic devaluation, etc. The legislation for regulating street vending has been under scanner for long. The most recent legislation, The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 aims to address the issue in a comprehensive manner. Earlier, street vending has been under municipal bodies regulated by their own laws under state legislature. Few cities like Bhubaneswar had managed to have ‘vending zones’ and regularization measures before this law came in. But it is a problem in most urban areas as of now. The new legislation provides for a ‘Town Vending Committee’ under the municipality with other representatives as members. They are to take up the responsibility of preparing street vending plans and schemes along with issuing certificates to vendors and managing them. Railway premises are exempt from this act. The legislation suggests for preparation of plans and schemes, though in no way it actually comes up with norms for street vending. It is to be prepared by town vending committee every five years along with town planning department.
The legislation is a tool to control the unaccounted activities of informal sector in street vending. But there has been agitations regarding removal of such street vendors ‘non complying’ to the plans and schemes of municipality. They are declared ‘illegal’ and their property is confiscated. A similar case happened in Jaipur. (Rajasthan Patrika, 2015) On events like this, it becomes critical to see how such legislations are interpreted. Lacunae in legal standings can hurt the cause of the legislation itself. In this case, a legislation aimed at protecting the livelihood of street vendors can act as a destroyer of livelihoods. The Street Vending Act provides the framework for control of activities and the institutional setup needed for implementing, but its direction to form town vending plans and schemes by local authorities is open to interpretation. Also, the ‘holding capacity’ determination procedure for the number of street vendors in a space is very vague. Article 21 provides the right to living to all citizens of India. The right to earn a decent living becomes a necessary part of right to life. (Jani, 2013) The street vendors, though surely needed to be managed, also need to earn a living. Putting unexplained norms and conditions doesn’t work for anyone. The poor people cannot voice their opinions in such matters and the ones regulating comply with legislations without realizing the sensitivity of the subject. The street vendors evicted in large numbers with their goods confiscated may fail to earn any living in future and their household conditions by deteriorate. A place like India where dependency on the soul bread earner of the family is high, such issues become more precarious as it creates a multiplier effect.
The livelihood part of the Street Vending legislation needs to be relooked at. Procedures for ‘social audit’ needs to be clearer. A Social Impact Assessment in this case is surely needed. Besides, issues and conditions vary from place to place. The town vending committees who have the power to create the plans and schemes, need to use the ‘open to interpretation’ legal framework in a positive manner to ensure area specific guidelines and norms. Incorporation of these schemes and plans with the street design and development plans for the area is also a needed step. Linking ‘livelihood’ with ‘space’ requirements is an issue in this particular case. A more comprehensive approach is needed to assure that rights of street vendors are protected. The argument here is how we look at the street vending activity. A street vendor is also a poor person with a family depending on him/her for money. They have the right to live and if their livelihood is threatened by another law itself, it become imperative to rethink the framework and its implementation process.

References

Government of India. (2014). The Street Vendors (protection of livelihood and regulation of street vending) Act, 2014.

http://jeevika.org/. (2012). Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://jeevika.org/rally-and-mass-demonstration-against-large-eviction-of-street-vendors-in-jaipur/

Jani, N. (2013, Sept). Article 21 of the Constitution of India and Right to Livelihood. Voice of Research, 2(2).

Rajasthan Patrika. (2015, July 31). Jaipur.