Street vendors not happy

National Association of Street Vendors of India on Tuesday described the Railway Budget by the Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal as disappointing for vendors and hawkers, porters and other informal workers, who depend on the railways for their livelihood.

A National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) member said every time we had sent representations to the railway minister about the vendors working on railway land, the response was always positive.

‘Will affect food price’

“Now that the diesel price has increased, it will affect the food price again. The vendors selling items on the railway land and platform will be harassed for charging high rate,” said the member. Around 20,000 informal workers work on the railway land in the city.

The association members said the vendors earning their livelihood on platforms and railway land are demanding that all commissioned railway vendors, their helpers and mobile unorganised vendors be treated as legalised railway vendors at par with the status of licensed porters having identity card, health and rail travel facilities.

 “They have expectations that they will be licensed. But their expectations have been belied,” said NASVI national coordinator Arbind Singh.

NASVI members said they will continue to raise livelihood issues of vendors carrying on their businesses on railway lands and will press for inclusion of such vendors under the purview of the proposed central legislation for street vendors.