The Sate of Hawkers

A Presentation of National Hawkers Federation, Presented By

Saktiman Ghosh, General Secretary, National Hawker Federation

Before Sonia Gandhi inaugural program our National Hawker Federation program in Manipur

Fact sheet• In India 93% workforce is Unorganized workers which generates

65% of the GDP and the Hawkers are the second largest workforce in informal workers besides Agricultural workers..

• Hawking can be found in the Jataka tales of Buddhist Literature in the for in the form of two traders – Seriba & Seriban

• Strength – 4 Crore including Urban, Rural, Rail, Hut, Weekly Market, phare-wala and other hawkers.

• Selling – products of small, tiny, home-based producers window of the low circuit economy, selling 80% produces of agricultural products

• Turnover – 8000 crore/day• Business – Applying tradition business acumen of India• Social Protection – Still Largely Unprotected• Serves – mostly the urban & rural poor

Fact sheet• Hawkers are a major component of urban population, 2.5% population of urban

area consists of hawkers.

• Survival of street vending is not only important for the livelihood of the street vendors but also for the extended livelihood support they provide to vast population connected with marginalized small trade activities like small scale traders, home based workers, small manufactures, marginalized farmers etc.

• In addition to that, street vendors are the only retail source for 77% urban poor population who does not have the financial capacity to buy their food, clothes and other products from established shops.

• As per WHO and FAO food hawkers provide 1000 kilocalorie food value within the range of RS.7 to RS. 10 with a choice of more than 300 type of food. Food vendors play a very important role in food security and they helps to preserve indigenous traditional food.

• Legality Over Business – State government must come fast to enact hawkers friendly Acts in their respective states

Road to recognition

• in 2000 National Hawkers Federation(NHF) was formed to bring justice to the hawking community of India, with a membership of 550 independent hawkers unions / associations / organizations along with 11 Central Trade Union affiliated unions.

• Relentless movement & advocacy leads to undertake 1st hawkers policy in 2004.

• Later in 2009, a Bill(The Street Vendors (Protection of livelihood and regularization of Hawking) Act, 2009 was drafted undertaken with a greater mobility and justice to the hawking communities.

Salient features of 2009 Act

The Street Vendors (Protection of livelihood and regularization of Hawking) Act, 2009:

Salient features of the Act:– Protection of livelihood and regularization of hawking.– Recognizing that every city and every street is different, the

Policy calls for participation of street vendors in policy-making through Town and Ward Vending Committees, calling for local solutions to local problems.

– Beautification and clean up programs undertaken by the states or towns should actively involve street vendors in a positive way as a part of the beautification programme.

– Policy outlines the role of state governments in facilitating this process.

Issues & Various Constraints

• Major State Governments and Local Municipal Corporations are unresponsive towards national policy on urban street vendors.

• Those States who are implemented urban street vendors policy still does not amend or repealed the existing Municipal and Police (IPC) Acts and Laws which defines hawking as illegal activity. Many state government drafted policies which includes adverse clauses that will affect hawkers in adversely.

• Conflict in the political interest and compulsions in between State Government and Municipal Corporation is another major impediment in the implementation of national policy on urban street vendors.

Issues & Various Constraints

• Irrespective of the direction to include the street vendors in the Master Plan, City Development Plan, Zonal and Local layout plans no state government has done so far. Some state governments passed the policy but not included street vendors in the plans.

• Most of the registration systems of hawkers are very difficult and complicated. So the majority of the hawkers are unable to register themselves and a strong middleman section evolved in between which extracting huge money from the poor hawkers.

• The Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy is only concern about the Rural area but in urban area hawkers are randomly evicted without proper rehabilitation. So the R&R Policy should extended to Urban area also.

Issues & Various Constraints

• In all the new township/satellite, towns plan 2.5% space should allotted for hawkers.

• There is also an urgent need to extend Urban street vendors policy to Rural areas.

• Urban Street Vendors Policy should be extended to Rural Area also, we are facing problem in Sea and Hill area.

• The battle between traditional retail or so called “unorganized retail Vs corporate retail” affecting the hawkers adversely. The state policy should have a focus on this aspect in way to restrict the opening of corporate multi-brand retail chains in every hawker infested areas

Issues & Various Constraints • from last 20th December 2010, Ranchi

city authorities started to conduct forceful hawkers eviction at midnight regularly in a very barbaric nature.

• As the policy restricting hawkers eviction so many anti-hawker corporate lobbies are finding different way to evict hawkers through Court cases – there are three examples Kolkata, Dhanbad, Ranchi and Jaipur.

• hawkers eviction is carrying out in almost every state of India. Our request that the Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation should intervene.

• Loss of asset should be avoided or compensated as per 2004 Policy.

Issues & Various Constraints • Pune and Orissa resettlement plan is

good but cover only 10%.• Mainly 63 cities under JNNURM eviction

is present. Hawkers should included in JNNURM

• A huge number of developmental refugee and climate refugee are migrating in to urban area. Estimated global climate refugee in 2020 will be 35 coroe . It will create a huge impact on city traffic condition in future.

• at present huge land is under Railways Ministry and naturally a great number of people are engaged in railway hawking. If National Policy applied to Defense land, Private Land, Government than why Railways excludes as Railways Ministry is also under the central government .

Space for street vending – provision in master, zonal, local layout plans

• No Municipal Corporation has included hawkers in their master, zonal, local or CDP plans irrespective of direction of National Policy on Urban Street 2009 and state hawkers policy directions. Major state government still not has not reserved space (2.5%)

• The Delhi transport model or BRT should be followed in the planning as a model to minimize the traffic congestion.

• Proper planning should be made for Provisions for solid waste disposal -Public toilets to maintain cleanliness; Aesthetic design of mobile stalls/ push carts-Provision for electricity; Provision for safe drinking water-Provision for protective covers to protect wares of street vendors as well as themselves from heat, rain, dust etc.; Storage facilities including cold storage for specific goods like fish, meat and poultry; and night Parking areas.

Preparation of plan of action and timeline for the State Governments:

• The state governments should have a strict plan of action and timeline for enacting the proper laws accordance with the national policy for effective implementation.

• As per Supreme Court order on the national policy on urban street vendors implementation timeline every state should draft and pass their respective policy and act within June 2011.

• Within the parameter of plan of action after passing the policy every state government should immediately enact appropriate laws and acts along with amending or repealing the old IPC and Municipal acts followed by creating state level committee and TVC, reserving 2.5% space in new township planning, issuing identity cards through digitalized census survey and within the policy framework state government should mention the policy for new vendors as street vending is the only fastest growing employment open as open sourced.

• Within the policy special emphasis should be given to protect the natural and traditional markets.

Convergence of various government schemes for the benefits of street vendors and Social Security for hawkers.

•It is necessary to include hawkers in various urban poor welfare schemes like Rajiv Abash Joyojna etc. State governments has not taken any measures to included hawkers in the social security schemes like Provided Fund, Gratuity, ESI, Health Insurance, Housing etc.

• If we want to secure the livelihood of the hawkers then we need to uplift their socio-economic conditions. Presently a huge financial resource of the hawkers draining due to bribing the Police, Municipal Corporation, corrupt union leaders and paying huge money to private money lender, “thikadar” for pavements rent etc. we need to protect them from all these factors for proper livelihood security.

•after our consultation Honorable Food Processing Minister Shri. Subodh Kant Sahai agreed to remove Hawkers from Food Safety and Standard Act.

Convergence of various government schemes for the benefits of street vendors and Social Security for hawkers.

•Hawkers should be linked to Banks with a direct access nature for loan in minimum interest rate and flexible repayment options.

•We have modelled a social security board for the hawkers attached with LICI, GIC State and Central Government Schemes & other agencies.

•For last 2 years National Hawker Federation and a group of students associated with Innoaid, from Technical University of Denmark researched on developing a model kiosk to address the issues like urban space use, hygienic conditions, maximum utility for hawkers and recently we developed a very hygienic and productive design of a kiosk which we will introduce to the hawkers very soon.

Hawkers and hygienic aspects in public space

• Collective waste Management mechanism should be development with involvement of the hawkers organizations for effective and sustainable waste management.

• Proper training facilities regarding improving hygienic and health quality in street, in association with the hawkers organization and All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Ministry of Food Processing and Health Department of State and Central Government should be immediately initiated.

• NHF in association with AlIH&PH, WHO and FAO trained major food hawkers of kolkata and formed four Food Safety Zones in Kolkata.

NHF’s Stance• There should be a Task Force in all India level to implement,

monitor, evaluate the national policy implementation process nationwide. This task force should have representation from street vendors organizations.

• Digital survey must and central government should allot for every municipal corporation..

• Amendments must be made to all relevant municipal, state, and central laws.

• The Indian Penal Code and Police Act should also be amended in order to legalize hawking.

• n association with the labour Ministry, a separate social welfare board needs to be created for hawkers like the Biri workers board.

• Due to corporatization of medical sector, medical expenses are becoming too high so medical insurance cannot give hawkers a compressive medical protection. So we are demanding to incorporate hawkers within the existing ESI network. That is the best option for hawkers.

Hawkers and Climate Change – focusing the Cancun Climate Convention

• Hawkers are also playing a vital role in reducing climate change. If the same volume of retail trade which hawkers done nationwide, is done by corporate retailers then they will use 400 times more energy and air-conditioning and fossil and other fuel but in case of hawkers they use minimum energy, electricity and fuel and they do not use air-conditioning. This way, hawkers are reducing emanation of carbon, greenhouse gases-CFC, and providing the same infrastructure in climate friendly way. Hawkers are also using minimum resources like land, water, electricity which helps to preserve climate. Hawkers use existing public transport systems and as they sell local producers product so they reduce huge carbon emission through transport and logistics.

Hawkers and Climate Change – focusing the Cancun Climate Convention

• In the other hand hawkers are the worse direct victim of climate change as they are always exposed to open space. Today Hawkers are acknowledged worldwide as most climate friendly retailers. So we are demanding for using the carbon fund created by the developed countries to reduce climate change. We are demanding for using that fund for the hawkers in form of social security or hawkers welfare fund.

• We are going to conduct an energy audit for the hawkers

Climate Demonstration at Cancun

Presentation of Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation

• NHF has published the presentation of Sri P K Mohanti, Secretary, MUD&PA as a booklet to create awareness amongst the government officials and political leaderships who will enact & implement the Hawkers Bill in their respective states.

• We have published a book with compilation of these three milestone judgments.- Hon'ble Judges: Y.V. Chandrachud, KULDIP SINGH (J), Asok Kumar Ganguly

We believe Eviction is No Solution.

Thank You