Introduction

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Street vending is an ancient phenomenon. It is as ancient as urban settlement.

It has been the mainstay of cities around the world for centuries. Street vending as an

occupation has existed for hundreds of years (Bromley, 2000). Ancient and medieval

period witnessed travelling merchants who sold their wares in towns by going from

house to house. They also traded in neighbouring countries (Sharit Bhowmik, 2012).

Street vending is considered as the cornerstone of cities‟ historical and cultural heritage.

It is the most visible and active segment of the large urban informal economy. They have

become a part and parcel of life in any city.

Street vendors flourish in the areas that are popular congregations of the general

public. They line up near railway stations, along busy shopping streets, housing

complexes, in front of religious places, major sports and entertainment centres. Markets,

pathways, highways and terminuses are the other highly congested places were the street

vendors sell their products.

Variations are seen in the employment context of street vendors. They are

heterogeneous in nature. Their activity varies in scale, timing, location and remuneration.

It varies in terms of workforce, and types of goods and services they sell.

Street vendors may have fixed stalls such as kiosks, semi-fixed stalls like folding

tables; they may operate from crates, collapsible stands, or wheeled pushcarts that are

moved and stored overnight. Other vendors sell from fixed locations without a stall

2

structure, displaying their merchandise on cloth/plastic sheets. Mobile vendors walk or

bicycle through the streets as they sell (International Labour Organisation, 2002).

Some work from the same site on a daily basis. Some rotate among two or more

sites by taking advantage of the clientele. Some move from one market to another on a

rotation basis. There are also street vendors who work in weekly rotating markets.

For some, it is a regular primary occupation while for others it is secondary

occupation and a source of additional income. Some take up street vending on part time

basis. Occasional vendors are also seen who take advantage of seasonal and festival demand.

Most work independently without employees. Some hire employees or have family

members assisting their activities. Some even work as employees of informal and formal

enterprises who vend their products for wages and salaries. A few vend for commissions.

The earning of street vendors depends on the products they sell, and it deviates

from trade to trade, location to location, volume of trade and terms of trade. A few of the

vendors‟ income are quite high while others are low. The Tata Institute of Social

Sciences (TISS) and Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) survey found that

the average income of hawkers during the year 1998 ranged from ` 50 to ` 80 per day

(Sharit Bhowmik, 2010).

Collecting and providing reliable data on street vending is a challenging one.

Street vendors may not report their place of work at all. They may feel uncomfortable

reporting their true occupation to government surveys because of the risk involved in it

such as, fear of fees or confiscation of merchandise, when reported as a street vendor.

Also, many workers use street vending as a secondary, seasonal, temporary or part-time

3

occupation and therefore do not report it as an occupation. Apart from that, street vendors

leave their business or relocate to other places easily. Because of this, they are more

likely to get skipped from inclusion in census. Finally, even when reliable official

statistics on street traders are available, they cannot always be disaggregated in ways that

would help urban planners and street vending organisations. National population census

and Labour force surveys hardly satisfy the criteria for identifying street vendors. Official

statistics of some countries consider street vendors as a subset of “informal traders”

which also include people who trade from their homes. Moreover, although street vending

is present in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO), the categories

of street traders are rarely present in official statistics (ILO1, 2002) (wiego.org). Thus reliable

statistics particularly on street vendors are hard to get. However countries could give an

approximation over the number of street vendors present in their country.

There is a substantial increase in the number of street vendors in the major cities

around the world, especially in the developing countries of Asia, Latin America and

Africa. As per ILO report 2002, street vendors account for 14.8% of total non-agricultural

employment in South Africa, 9% in Guatemala, 8% in Kenya, 6% in Tunisia and 1% to

5% in Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico. According to the Dhaka City Corporation, there

are around 90,000 street vendors in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Sevantha (a Non

Governmental Organisation at Colombo), in its 2002 report stated that there are 8,000 to

10,000 street vendors in Colombo, Sri Lanka (Sharit Bhowmik, 2012).

A good proportion of women are found in street vending in most countries over the

world. In Africa, women constitute more than two thirds of street traders in the main

1 International Labour Organisation

4

cities of Benin, Cote D‟ Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Togo and more than half in Kenya,

Madagascar, Senegal and South Africa (DIAL, 2011; Budlender, 2011; ILO, 2002).

Women also form a majority of street vendors in some cities in Asia and Latin America,

including Hanoi (79 %), Ho Chi Minh City (67 %) and Lima (65 %). The percentage is

low only in a few countries where cultural norms restrict women‟s economic activities

(Chen and Snodgrass, 2001) (wiego.org).

Sharit Bhowmik (2005) estimates that about 2.5% of India‟s urban population is

engaged in street vending. According to Government of India, there are around 10 million

vendors in India, of whom around 2,50,000 are in Mumbai. Mumbai has the highest number

of street vendors among all major cities in India. About 12.5% of the total self-employed

population in the city is dependent on street vending for livelihood. It is estimated that Delhi

has 5,00,000 to 6,00,000 street vendors. Kolkata has nearly 2,00,000. Ahmedabad has

1,00,000 and Patna has around 80,000. Indore, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar have around

30,000 street vendors (National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2006).

In general, in India, there are more men vendors than women vendors. Rough estimates

suggest that women constitute 30% of the total population of vendors in India and they earn

significantly lower income than their male counterparts (Sharit Bhowmik, 2010). The share of

women vendors is the highest in Imphal, where it is primarily a women‟s domain.

1.1 REASONS FOR AN INCREASE IN STREET VENDOR IN INDIA

A number of factors are held responsible for the substantial increase in the

number of street vendors in India. Lack of gainful employment and poverty in rural areas

make people move from villages to cities. They move in search for new and better

5

opportunities for existence. These migrated masses with low education and lack of

specific occupational skills fail to fit in formal economy. Also the percentage of jobs in

organized sector is shrinking. It does not match the employment needs of the country.

Only informal sector absorbs millions of these underprivileged.

Some are also forced into informal sector. Studies show that when people lost

their jobs in formal sector due to closures, downsizing and mergers, they had no other

option than to engage in low-paid work in informal sector for the sake of survival.

Workers who were once in formal sector are now forced into informal sector, which can

be widely seen in countries such as Phillippines, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia,

Indonesia and India (Sharit Bhowmik, 2005).

The report submitted to National Statistical Commission by the Committee on

Unorganised Sector Statistics (a sub-committee of National Commission for Enterprises

in the Unorganized Sector) during 2012 stated that over 90% of the country‟s workforce

is engaged in the informal sector for its livelihood. In the era, where the focus is on job

creation, self-employment becomes an important source of livelihood for the urban poor.

Self-employment solves economy‟s unemployment problem. The number of individuals

getting involved in self-employment activities is on an increase in India. A large

proportion of unemployed live below poverty line and therefore self-employment for

them is possible only with very low capital or with financial assistance. Street vending

alone overcomes this constraint.

Street vending activity requires low capital. It provides entrepreneurial opportunities

to people who cannot afford to rent or own a shop to sell their goods. It assures them a

6

subsistence income. It helps street vendors to get out of poverty trap. It helps to improve their

economic well being. Street vending combats unemployment and poverty.

1.2 SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE STREET VENDORS

Street vendors play a dynamic role in the urban economy by providing

incomparable services to the public. They serve the society by meeting consumer‟s day to

day economic needs at their doorsteps. They serve from dawn to dusk by offering gamut

of goods and services such as food items, textiles, accessories, stationery, toys and

handicrafts and many more. They also offer goods and services which are not available in

off-street markets. People need not go to regular markets to pick these items. Their retail

options are made easily accessible and convenient. Street vendors satisfy consumers‟

demand, when they have time constrain. It adds to the comfort of the public.

Street vendors benefit urban rich and poor buyers by making the products

available to them at comparatively lower price than those available in retail shops,

departmental stores and shopping malls. They provide essential goods at low prices.

It makes living less expensive.

People from all sections buy goods from the streets. But the main beneficiaries are

the urban poor. These people purchase nearly all their necessities from street vendors.

A study on street vending in seven cities (Sharit Bhowmik, 2001) revealed that the lower

income groups spent a higher proportion of their income in making purchases from street

vendors mainly because their goods are cheap and affordable.

These micro retailers‟ existence is driven by demand. They effectively cater to

seasonal, sporadic and special demands. The demand for their goods and services are on

7

an increase. It has been estimated that around 30% of the Mumbai‟s workforce buys at

least one meal a day from vendors (Sharit Bhowmik, 2001).

Street vendors assist small industries too. Small industries cannot afford to retail

their products through distribution networks in the formal sector. Street vendors help

small-scale industries and traditional sector to thrive by marketing their produced

products. Street vendors sell different kinds of goods such as clothes, hosiery, leather,

moulded plastic goods and different kinds of household goods, which are manufactured

in small scale or home-based industries (Sharit Bhowmik, 2001).

They lend a hand to farmers, mainly fruits and vegetable farmers. They help

sustain employment, income and provision of services to the urban economy to a great

extent. They make a significant contribution to urban economy‟s growth and

development. The annual contribution of 2,00,000 vendors and hawkers taken together in

Mumbai comes to 60 billion rupees. In Kolkata, it is estimated that the total annual

turnover of all the hawkers put together was 30 billion (nasvinet.org).

1.3 PROBLEMS FACED BY THE STREET VENDORS

Earlier civilizations were tolerant to these travelling traders. But now they are

rarely treated with the same level of dignity and tolerance. They are perceived in a

different notion. Inspite of their invaluable services, they are ignored and marginalised.

Street vendors are the most socially and economically deprived, and vulnerable sections

of the informal workers.

Street vendors face problems relating to their public space utilization. They are

deprived of their right to livelihood, right to use public places, right to safety, right to

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trade and their right to dignity. They work in very difficult and unfavourable conditions.

They are deprived of legal spaces to carry on their activities. Indian cities are not planned

in a way to accommodate street vendors on roads and pavements. All urban plans allot

space for public use such as for parks and gardens. But urban planners give least or no

importance for allotment of space for street vending. Most metropolitan cities in India

prepared their master plans in the 1960s. These were based on demographic projections

and decisions about containing future population of a city (Tiwari, 2000). Subsequent

revisions of master plans have often made things worse rather than enhancing street

vendors.

Street vendors are treated as irritants to urban planning and organisation. Street

vendors are relocated to municipal markets or hawkers‟ complex. They are transferred to

off street markets under the aegis of municipal programmes. Vending and non-vending

zones are created for them which are normally designated by the civic or police

authorities. The drawback is that these are done in an arbitrary manner. In many cases the

interests of street vendors and the needs of consumers are not considered. The authorities

deliberately demarcate vending zones in areas that are least likely to have consumers.

Exceptionally in Bhubaneswar, a conceptual model was successfully adopted under

which fixed kiosks were constructed in the vending zones and handed over to the

vendors. Between the year 2007 and 2011, 54 vending zones were created with

approximately 2600 kiosks (Mohapatra, 2011).

Though all sections of the urban population patronise street vendors, the middle and

upper income groups are decisive of the problems faced by them. The NGOs representing

the elite sections, especially the residents' associations of the middle class and upper middle

9

class, are most vocal about eviction of street vendors from their vicinity. In large cities like

Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, these associations aggressively argue for

restoration of pavements where street vendors earn their livelihood. The constant tirade of

these elite NGOs claim that street vendors deprive pedestrians of their space, create

inconvenience for traffic and encourage anti-social activities. These statements find favour

with the media that highlights these issues (Sharit Bhowmik, 2003). They are perceived to

block the egress of crowded buildings like theatres, stadiums, parks, etc. But the field

survey on non-vending zones in Kolkata by the Urban Research and Policy Programme

(URPP) of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) brought to light that

pavement vendors were observed to have a marginal role in causing congestion. Still their

market is considered as illegal „encroachments upon public space‟. Other problems what

they are held responsible for are „they often include a considerable number of minors‟ and

„are also considered to be less professional‟.

They survive in a hostile environment. They do not have any kind of identity

cards for recognition or license to make their presence legal. Conservative estimates

suggest that there are 2,50,000 street vendors in Mumbai, out of which only 14000 are

licensed. Most studies indicate that a majority of street vendors in Indian cities are

unlicensed and therefore officially treated as illegal (Sharit Bhowmik, 2000).

Their employment is full of uncertainty and insecurity. They face constant threat

of eviction, exhortation, humiliation and seizure. They are considered as nuisance,

criminals, and are frequently evicted by police and the local bodies. They are subject to

harassment and struggle in their daily work life. They face unexpected raids. Once their

property is confiscated, only after payment of penalty, their seized wares will be returned.

10

At times if their property is destroyed, they have to recover the remains and continue the

business or restart their business. They are entailed with heavy fines. They face risk of

displacement during times of elections, mega events and even during beautification of

cities. These kind of unstable and unpredictable market situations make street vendors

less productive.

They hardly have any protective covers to safeguard themselves and their wares

from waning because of heat, rain and dust. They are vulnerable to loss of goods by both

nature and manmade disturbances. There is no insurance coverage specifically for them in

this regard. Vendors of perishable goods are more vulnerable to losses than vendors of

non-perishable. Vendors of seasonal goods must cope with fluctuations in supply and

demand over time (Chen and Snodgrass, 2001).

Access to capital determines street vendors‟ economic activities, profits and

business growth. Their growth is hindered by limited or no access to formal credit. Street

vendors depend on moneylenders and wholesalers for credit for their businesses.

Sharit Bhowmik (2007) stated that street vendors have scarce resources for their trade

and need to obtain credit. As private sources charge exorbitant interests for their loans,

street vendors have to borrow at a higher interest rate.

Other than these, they receive less care for up-gradation of their technical and

business skills. They are deprived of vocational training and capacity building. There is

massive overcrowding in their profession due to limited capacity of formal sector to

provide jobs. There is no established grievance redressal mechanism and dispute

resolution mechanism.

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They experience poor working conditions. They work under unhealthy, unsafe and

unfavourable working environments. They undergo occupational hazards. Vending involves

moving from place to place by lifting and hauling heavy loads of goods throughout the day.

They lack proper electricity and clean drinking water. Their work environment lack toilets and

provision for solid waste disposal because of which they are unable to keep their environment

clean. It ultimately results in unhygienic conditions. Also, majority of them live in poor areas

which lack access to basic healthcare and welfare services. Anjaria (2006) mentions that

vending is full of insecurity and uncertainty, since vendors work at the roadside and accidents

may occur at any time. They stay in the slums and do not have adequate space for living.

Their undesirable working conditions make them vulnerable to poor health and diseases.

Street vendors work for very long hours especially for more than 8 hours a day under extreme

climate. They work amidst high levels of air and noise pollution, which result in several forms of

ailments like hypertension, hyperacidity, or even diseases related to heart and kidney. Often many

of these diseases are related to stress due to uncertainty of income (Sharit Bhowmik, 2010).

A study of street vendors in Mumbai conducted by SNDT2 Women's University and ILO during

the year 2000 showed that an overwhelming majority of them suffered from ailments related to

stress - hyperacidity, migraine, hypertension, loss of sleep etc.

Street vendors lack protection for sickness, unemployment, employment injury,

etc. The social security laws granting these provisions are generally applicable only to

workers in the formal sector. Access to social security for the street vendors is another

major problem (NPUSV3, 2004; Sharit Bhowmik, 2007).

2 Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University 3 National Policy on Urban Street Vendors

12

Street vendors form informal associations that negotiate with local authorities. This

invariably means offering rents (bribes) to the authorities to defend themselves from eviction

drives or as a payment for forewarning them about approaching drives. These associations

collect money from their members and pay it as rent to the concerned authorities. In some cases

local musclemen, collect protection fees by threatening them. Their links with the local

authorities ensure that those who pay will not be disturbed and those who do not pay will face

eviction either by the musclemen or the authorities. National Association of Street Vendors of

India (NASVI)'s study of street vendors found that they pay between 10% to 20% of their

earnings as rent. In Mumbai the total rents collected amounts to 4 billion annually. In the year

2000, in Delhi, Manushi Trust, a women's organisation, found that 500 million is collected

from these people as rents. These findings were later endorsed by the Central Vigilance

Commission (Sharit Bhowmik, 2006). Thus they regularly bribe the authorities to carry out

their trade. A substantial income is spent on all these payments. It dampens their earning.

Ultimately they earn a meagre income.

To overcome these restrictions, street vendors organise themselves into trade

unions and associations that enable them to continue their activities. Trade unions help

vendors get their problems redressed. Although street vending organizations is been in

existence for decades, it has not brought much change in the plight of the vendors.

These organisations are mainly localised bodies representing street vendors in specific

areas of the city. The main problem is that on the whole, only a very few street vendors

are unionized. Street vending organizations too face challenges. Street vendors work for

long hours and they find it difficult to devote time to the organizations. Different studies

conducted on street vendors in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad show that less than

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20% of them are members of unions. Organisational strength and voice is not very strong

among street vendors. Ahmedabad is an exception where a large number of women

vendors are unionised mainly due to the efforts of Self-Employed Women‟s Association.

1.4 EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE LIFE OF STREET VENDORS IN INDIA

At this juncture, National Association of Street Vendors of India began its journey

in 1998 to face the challenges arising out of economic reforms and urbanization. NASVI

is a federation of trade unions, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), NGOs and

professionals. It brings together the former and collectively struggles for the livelihood of

millions of vendors who are threatened by outdated laws and changing policies and

practices. The networking organization grew in terms of recognition, membership, and

activities and created a niche for itself. NASVI has 715 street vendor organizations, trade

unions and NGO's in association. It aims at:

Ensuring livelihood and social security of street vendors through policy

interventions and changes in political-legal environment

Building capacity of street vendor organizations

Evidence gathering and dissemination of evidences and issues concerning street

vendors

Undertaking schemes and programs enabling vendors to get access to financial

services.

NASVI has been successful in bringing issues concerning street vendors to the

forefront and has been working closely with state and municipal bodies to push for the

proper implementation of the national policies on street vendors.

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This nationwide mobilization of vendors influenced the Government of India to bring

in National Policy for Street Vendors. Since 2004, the government had been framing and

implementing policies for the welfare of street vendors. „National Policy on Urban Street

Vendors‟ was introduced in the year 2004. The Policy gave visibility to vendors‟ issues.

The basic objectives of the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2004 are:

To give vendors legal status and provide legitimate hawking zones in urban

development/zoning plans.

To provide facilities for appropriate use of identified space.

To eschew imposing numerical limits on access to public spaces by discretionary

licenses and instead moving to nominal fee-based regulation of access.

To make street vendors a special component of the urban development/ zoning plans.

To promote self-compliance amongst street vendors.

To promote organizations of street vendors e.g. Unions/Cooperatives/Association

and other forms of organization.

To set up participatory mechanisms with representation by urban vendors'

organizations (Unions/Co-operatives/Associations), Voluntary organizations, local

authorities, the police, Residents Welfare Association (RWAs) and others.

To take measures to promote better future of street vendors.

To facilitate/promote social security (pension, insurance, etc.,) and access to

credit for street vendors.

The 2004 policy was later revised as „National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2009‟.

While both policies recognizes the importance of national markets, and explicitly state

15

that street vending provides meaningful employment and valuable products and services

to a wide range of persons, the 2009 policy documents marks several advancements over

the older 2004 policy. The policy considerably improves upon the 2004 policy in the

areas of provision of civic facilities, registration procedures, registration fees, collection

of revenue, eviction, relocation, confiscation, organization of vendors, participative

processes, public health and hygiene, self-regulation, credit and insurance, rehabilitation

of child vendors, education and skill development, housing, social security, monitoring

and review, dispute settlement and capacity building.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment in collaboration with the International

Labour Organisation and Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI)

Foundation launched „Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana4 (RSBY)‟ for Below Poverty

Line (BPL) families in Unorganised Sector on 1st October, 2007 and it became

operational from 1st April, 2008. Some of the basic features of the scheme are:

Beneficiaries to be issued Smart Cards,

Total sum insured would be ` 30000 per family per annum,

Cashless transaction,

All pre-existing diseases to be covered and

Hospitalisation expenses, taking care of most of the illnesses including maternity

benefit.

4 National Health Insurance Programme

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During its course of implementation, RSBY has been extended to street vendors,

beedi5 workers, domestic workers, building and other construction workers, and

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers,

who have worked more than 15 days during the previous year.

In 2009, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation circulated a draft

of bill titled, „Model Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street

Vending) Bill, 2009‟, between all States and Union Territory governments for creation of

state legislation.

In 2010, the Supreme Court of India, recognized street vending as a source of

livelihood and directed the ministry to work out on a central legislation. The draft of the same

was unveiled to the public on 11th November, 2011. The key points of the drafted bill were:

Legitimate protection of street vendors from harassment of police and civic

authorities,

Demarcation of “vending zones” on the basis of “traditional natural markets”,

Proper representation of vendors and women in decision making bodies, and

Establishment of effective grievance redressal and dispute resolution mechanism.

The most recent legislation is „The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and

Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014‟. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha6 on

6th

September 2012 and passed in the Lok Sabha on 6th

September 2013 and by the Rajya

5 A beedi is a thin, Indian cigarette filled with tobacco flake and wrapped in leaves of Coromandel

Ebony tree or possibly even Piliostigma racemosum leaf tied with a string at one end. 6 Lok Sabha is the Lower House of the Parliament of India.

17

Sabha7 on 19

th February 2014. With the efforts of SEWA

8, National Association of Street

Vendors of India (NASVI), National Advisory Council, Ministry of Housing and Urban

Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) and State Governments, the cherished Act came into force

from 1st May 2014 with an aim to regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their

rights. The bill provides for the establishment of a Town Vending Committee at the local

level with representation of street vendors in decision making process. The most

important functions to be performed by TVC9 are:

To conduct a survey of existing street vendors.

To decide on the areas of street vending.

To ensure that all vendors are accommodated on the pavements or other places

selected for the purpose.

To issue certificates of vending to vendors identified in survey and

To decide on the amount to be collected as fees/tax from vendors.

In addition to other provisions and protection, the bill also seeks to promote social

security, insurance, welfare, and capacity building etc. The bill has kept railways outside

the purview of vending. Street vendors are asked to keep their vicinity clean, but a major

problem is dearth of toilets in most of the areas.

The government policy pertaining to urban street vending is rarely followed in

spirit. Of the 29 states and 7 union territories, only 3 states namely Arunachal Pradesh,

Jharkhand and Rajasthan has passed laws recognizing the rights of street vendors.

7 Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of the Parliament of India. 8 Self Employed Women‟s Association 9 Town Vending Committee

18

Street vendors are not only impacted by laws, but also by the application of police

manuals and procedures, actions by municipal authorities, planning departments and

local-level management. The street vendors‟ status and the law related to them differ from

state to state. To resolve the conflicting laws between centre and the state, the Street Vendors

(Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 states that the central

law will override any other state law, in case there is conflict between the two laws.

However, street vendors are thriving successfully in cities and their numbers are

also growing rapidly as their services are widely demanded by the public.

1.5 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Individuals take up street vending because of a number of reasons. One may take

up street vending either because of conducive factors or because of compelling factors.

Conducive factors foster the decision on street vending whereas compelling factors are

the forceful factors due to which one takes up street vending as an occupational choice.

They offer incomparable services to the public at their convenience. A wide variety of

goods and services are provided by them which are designed to meet the needs and

affordability of consumers in the locality. But they work in very difficult and

unfavourable conditions. They are vulnerable to a number of problems – both physical

and mental. They have to strive hard to earn their livelihood. They are unaware of the

rights of street vendors. Also, they are less informed about various government

and non-governmental measures that support them. The needs and expectations of street

vendors are to be represented.

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Coimbatore is one of the fastest growing cities in India. It has a significant increase in

the number of migrants and consequently an increase in street vendors. A survey carried out

by IC Centre for Governance10

(ICCG) revealed that about 4000 street vendors are there in

Coimbatore Corporation limits (The Hindu, 2010) and more than 0.86% of Coimbatore‟s

population is engaged in street vending (The Hindu, 2013). The present study is rather a

comprehensive inquiry into the performance of street vendors. Few detailed and

comprehensive studies have so far been conducted on street vendors at the macro as well as

at the micro level. A few empirical studies on vendors provide broad and general information

about the vendors in general. Specifically, no detailed economic study has so far been

conducted on the performance of vendors. The analytical insights are of utmost significance

in the particular context of understanding the working and problems of vendors. Keeping in

view with the above facts, the present study aims at understanding the socio-economic

conditions of vendors. As no such study has been carried out in Coimbatore City Municipal

Corporation, this research will be of great value to the officials, planners and policy makers

in identifying the crucial areas of development of street vendors.

1.6 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the current study are

1. To analyze the socio-economic background of the street vendors,

2. To assess the quality of life of the selected street vendors,

3. To examine the practices of street vendors in the study area,

4. To find the motivational/conducive factors of the study group,

10 IC Centre for Governance is a registered Non-Profit Educational Trust.

20

5. To identify their awareness level,

6. To measure the economic success of the street vendors,

7. To evaluate the problems confronted by selected group of street vendors and

8. To identify the needs of the street vendors in the city.

1.7 HYPOTHESES

The present study is a comparative analysis on the practices and performance of

the street vendors in five zones in Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation. Considering

the conducive and compulsive factors responsible for the respondents‟ entry to street

vending and considering their socio-economic background, the following hypotheses

were tested. The hypotheses tested were,

1. There was no significant difference in the average income of the respondents

before and after entering street vending in all the five zones.

2. There was no significant difference in the factors that influenced and compelled

the street vendors in the research area.

3. There was no significant difference in the level of need of street vendors in all zones.

4. There was no significant difference in the investment level of street vendors in

different zones.

5. There was no significant difference in the operational cost of street vendors in

different zones.

6. Success level is independent of years of experience, location of street vending,

total investment, hours at work, age, marital status and community.

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This study makes a variety of conceptual and methodological improvisations over

the earlier studies. It assumes a greater significance in view of the current and rapid

changes in the society. In this era of job creation, individuals are entering into street

vending in large numbers. The study will be of immense importance to the academicians,

policy makers, NGOs involved in street vending related issues. It also assumes

significance as it focuses on its impact on the self-employed section. This will enable to

judge the efficacy of street vending. It would provide insights towards designing for

proper implementation.