Street vendors fume over coronavirus lockdown relaxation rules

The city’s federation of street vendors associations has questioned the government’s move to exempt the IT and IT-enabled services from the lockdown, while continuing the stranglehold on street vendors.

While the state government excluded a few sectors from the lockdown, including carts selling food, grocery and dairy products, restrictions continue to remain on street vendors. The relaxations came into effect from Thursday.

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The federation said 90% of the street vendors have not been able to carry out their sole means of earning. Only some street vendors have been allowed to sell fruits and vegetables, but these numbers are very few.

Since street vendors do not have an employer to depend on for wages, it said all vendors should be allowed with social restrictions.

"If we do not sell our wares, we cannot sustain our families. There is no one who will pay us if we cannot carry out our business. There are more than 1.5 lakh street vendors in the city, of which only 12,000 have received identity cards from the BBMP. Even among them, more than 50% are not vegetable and food vendors. What will the rest of us do?" S Babu, president of Bengaluru Jilla Beedi Vyapari Sanghatanegala Okkuta, asked.

Most live in rented houses and are struggling to pay rent, and the electricity and water bills. "Like other ration card holders, street vendors get only rice in the public distribution system. With no income, they find it difficult to purchase dal," the federation said.

It said all vendors should be given Rs 25,000 and dry ration kits that will last till the end of May. The BBMP was assisting only those vendors with the identity cards, but the federation said the assistance should be extended to all vendors.

It said vendors should be involved regularly in community kitchen set ups to serve food for migrant workers. The federation also urged the BJP to restart the initiative to set up markets in open spaces and allow street vendors to register for the door-to-door delivery of essential items.

“We ask the government to help street vendors and farmers to coordinate so that we will have items to sell and farmers don’t have to face a crisis,” it said.