This may happen provided the government passes a national law for the protection of their livelihood.
Demanding a national law for their protection and regulation of street vendors before the winter session of Parliament, street vendors from various parts of the country would gather here in the next week and dish out some of the choicest street food to please the taste buds of people and the key decision-makers.
In their effort to prevent summary eviction, confiscation of goods and regular harassment of urban vendors from the police and local authorities, the Indian vendors from different states would be backed by their foreign counterparts.
Vendor leaders from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, the Netherlands and Africa would be participating in the “National Convention on Cities for All” here on November 19. The event has been organised by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), director of NASVI Arvind Singh told Deccan Herald.
Singh said in the eighties issuing licences to vendors was officially stopped. He said the Supreme Court, in one of its rulings, has said vendors’ livelihood should not depend on the government not giving licences and has directed the government to make a law by June 2011.
The NASVI director said ironically, the certificate confirming confiscation of goods from a vendor would now be presented in the court as a proof of being a vendor (in absence of no new official licence). A suggestion to create vendor zones in all major cities (as first done in Madhya Pradesh) was also mooted along with weekly and night bazars. To impress the decision makers, the vendors are organising a 2-day street food festival from November 19 which will showcase “affordable food in the time of high inflation and food price”.
