Looming livelihood crisis: Forum demands Rs 25,000 for street vendors

While the ongoing lockdown has rightly put the focus on the plight of migrant labourers, the crisis faced by street vendors has largely gone unnoticed.

People buy fish from a push cart vendor in Bengaluru | Meghana Sastry

BENGALURU:  While the ongoing lockdown has rightly put the focus on the plight of migrant labourers, the crisis faced by street vendors has largely gone unnoticed. Without any social security and unable to effectively carry out their day-to-day business, they have been left high and dry.

So, to ensure a sustainable eco-system, street vendors have urged the government to let them coordinate with farmers, who too are in dire straits as they are unable to sell their produce, to mitigate the crisis for both sectors.

With the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in a letter dated April 3, acknowledging the threat to the livelihood of urban street vendors, their union -- Bengaluru Jilla Beedhi Vyapari Sanghatanegala Okkuta – said, 90 per cent of the lakhs of street vendors in Bengaluru city alone have not been able to carry out their business.

In a report, S Babu, Okkuta president, pointed out that sustenance of an entire family of a vendor was dependant on him/her. “If we do not sell our wares, we cannot sustain our families,” he said.

SOLUTIONS

• Involve street vendors in community kitchens
• Allow vending with physical distancing
• Allow street vendors to register for door-to-door delivery of essentials
• Provide a dry ration kit to all street vendors to last till May-end