Android app to find street vendors

Now finding the nearest street food vendor in the city is just a click away. An Android app named ‘Street Saathi’ was launched by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor at the National Street Food Festival at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday.

The free app enables users to search nearby street food vendors by proximity, popularity and cuisine type. It allows street vendors to upload information about themselves. This app has been created by Dheeraj Agrawal, who was also a street vendor in his teenage days.

A book ‘Street Saathi’ on issues concerning food vendors was also released. It carries brief stories on the creators of signatures dishes. 

Inaugurating the event, Sanjeev Kapoor said he was impressed by what he saw. “It’s high time the street food vendors should get their due recognition. Despite serving the society, they are still a neglected lot,” he said.

“Today most people don’t have the time to make their own food and balance it with their hectic routine. The street vendors play a significant role here,” he added.

He advised vendors to practice safe and hygienic methods to prepare and serve food. He said the whole world knew that Indian food is rich and has lots of variety and taste. “But we lack proper presentation. If we overcome that we can be the best in the world,” he said.

Christmas Day saw the start of the four-day festival organised by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI). There are over 200 stalls with vendors from 25 states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab. Options for foodies include crab cakes and an onion-garlic kheer.

NASVI’s national coordinator Arbind Singh said the main objective of organising the food festival every year was to empower vendors as service providers to the society.

On the last day of the festival, master street food vendors will be awarded under different categories such as hygiene, nutrition, serving, customer relations, innovation and popularity.