Since ancient times, street vendors have existed. Ancient and medieval civilisations were tolerant of the nomadic traders, which contributed to their prosperity. In modern times, street vendors are rarely treated with the same dignity and tolerance as other citizens. Municipalities and police in urban areas target them as illegal traders, and the urban middle and high class constantly complains about how these vendors make urban life a living hell by blocking pavements, causing traffic congestion, and engaging in anti-social behaviour. It cannot be ignored that the same representatives of middle class prefer to buy also from street vendors. The goods they sell are cheaper and the quality is as good as the products available in the departmental stores and shopping malls. Street vendors are constantly subjected to harassment by authorities. Local governments conduct eviction campaigns to clear the sidewalks of these encroachers and, in most cases, seize their property. A municipal raid is similar to a cat and mouse game. Street vendors are also required to bribe authorities on a regular basis in order to conduct business on the streets. The poor vendors are frequently forced to survive in hostile environments despite the fact that they provide a service. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, there are 10 million street vendors in India, with Mumbai accounting for 250,000; Delhi has 450,000, Kolkata, more than 150,000, and Ahmedabad, 100,000. Most of them are immigrants or laid-off workers, work for an average 10–12 hours a day, and remain impoverished. In India, street vending makes up 14% of total (non-agricultural) urban informal employment. There is an act namely Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 in India. The Act was framed to regulate the vending of the street vendors. This Act envisaged a responsibility on the state to recognise the rights of the vendors and provide them with social security from any kind of infringement. Since, before the enactment of the Act, the vendors were considered as the encroachers on the public land, so the Act now recognised their rights of vending making their work legal. In Jammu and Kashmir this Scheme towards the benefits of street vendors is called as “The Jammu and Kashmir Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Model Scheme, 2021.
We cannot deny the role and contributions of street vendors in Jammu & Kashmir. They contribute significantly to the creation of jobs and they have a vital contribution to the economy. The unemployment rate in Jammu & Kashmir is higher than the national average. The UT has witnessed challenges as a result of the conflicts and the people have been mostly observed to be in crisis and depression. The treatments given are unfair to the street vendors who mostly are from poor families. They are the people who are mostly unemployed and unskilled and they are involved in laborious activities rather than being involved in ill and illegal practices. But they are never at peace and every day they are fighting for their survival. They are suffering not only due to the bad treatments by the authorities but they have seen challenges due to the long protests and strikes in past. Now pandemic and lockdowns have made things worse for them and their families. This is not the end with their sad stories as they have to suffer more due to the vagaries of the weather and rainy seasons etc. They are a poorer section and are daily bread earners but it is sad they are earning it under constant threats. The rapid actions towards the street vendors by the authorities will not get anything positive for the UT rather it will kill our precious hardworking class deeply. The UT must bear patience and show true concern towards the welfare of the street vendor. They are a very precious and hardworking section in the Jammu & Kashmir. The UT must also adhere to the provisions of the 2014 Street Vendors Act in order to safeguard the livelihoods of all vendors in Jammu & Kashmir. In order to find better strategies to handle the street vendors, data and reports of street vendors should be made public to give meaningful insights to the experts and the researchers. The efforts on part of academia and researchers can work towards policy perspectives that can benefit the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, empower street vendors, provide them with a safe and secure workspace, and help them grow their small businesses quickly.
(While Dr.Firdous Ahmad Malik is Fellow Economics CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (CIRC), New Delhi Dr. Shahid Amin Trali is an Associate Professor in the School of Management, ITM University Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh)
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