NIDAN: Advocating the Issues of Street Vendors

By

Mahua Roy Choudhury and Ratna Ghosh

An Abstract Street Vendors contribute significantly to the national economic output. Yet, they constitute the poorest and most vulnerable segments of our population. The lack of recognition of their role on one hand and the multitude of problems faced by them on the other like obtaining license, insecurity of earnings, insecurity of place of hawking, gratifying officers and musclemen, constant eviction threat, fines and harassment by traffic policemen makes eking out a livelihood a difficult option. This case attempts to study the issue and the advocacy approach undertaken by a Patna based NGO, NIDAN in securing livelihoods of these hapless street vendors. It studies as to how by organizing, mainstreaming and educating them on their rights and entitlement and linking them with national and global network and influencing the state and municipal policies, have impacted on their livelihoods. The case offers interesting understanding on how the interventions can influence policy prescriptions which in turn attract collaborators (including financial donors and technical support) to help secure livelihoods. Again the direction of growth suggests inevitability of up scaling which has its own share of problems and issues and may include many facts like issues of decentralization, issues of sharing and communication and Issues of human resources development Street vendors and their plight According to the Arjun Sengupta Committee Report, of 2006 the Informal Economy provides livelihood to 93% (over 340 million) of the workforce in India. Women constitute more than 50% of this workforce. In the absence of any tangible organized sector, in Bihar this figure is almost 94.7%. Defining street vendors A street vendor is a person who offers goods or services for sale to the public without having a permanently built structure but with a temporary static structure or mobile stall (or head-load). Street vendors could be stationary and occupy space on the pavements or other public/private areas, or could be mobile, and move from place to place carrying their wares on push carts or in cycles or baskets on their heads, or could sell their wares in moving buses. The Government of India has used the term urban vendor as inclusive of both traders and service providers, stationary as well as mobile, and incorporates all other local/region specific terms used to describe them, such as, hawker, pheriwalla, rehri-patri walla, footpath dukandars, sidewalk traders, and more.
Definition, as included in the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2004, Department of Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation, MUPA, GOI.

Street vendors constitute a large section of the informal economy. Their average earning is very low and ranges from Rs40-80 a day. Women vendors earn less, and on average, than the men vendors. Their earnings range from 40 to 60 Rupees per day. They work under grueling conditions for long hours and are frequently harassed by the municipal authorities and the police. A large part of their income is spent in bribes and protection money1. Vendors are often regarded as public nuisance. They are accused of depriving pedestrians of their space, causing traffic jams and having links with anti-social activities. They have poor social protection and their working conditions on the streets expose them to a variety of safety and health issues2. The lack of toilets has an adverse effect on womens health and many suffer from urinary track infections and kidney ailments. The total annual contribution of 2, 00,000 vendors & hawkers taken together in Mumbai come to 60 billion rupees3. NIDAN Evolution In 1995, the Bihar State Government undertook a massive anti-encroachment drive owing to the High Court order. Poor vendors were the soft target and the administration focused on their eviction without taking steps to rehabilitate them. This senseless step evinced interest in those who were, then, part of ADITHI. It was decided to mobilize this unorganized section and offer them formidable clout to raise their voice against states indifference and hostile stance. Around the same time Ela Bhatt of SEWA (Self Employed Womens Association) was trying to galvanize the civil society institutions to include issues of unorganized street vendors. She shared her concern with Viji Srinivasan of ADITHI who followed this by an important consultation with various like-minded individuals/institutions. The response was electrifying and people expressed solidarity with this unorganized section of the society. Organization of street vendors became a project of ADITHI. ADITHI is a non-profit making womens organization working for the socio-economic development and empowerment of resource poor and resource-less women and girl
Sharit Bhowmik quotes the study on street vendors to estimate that the vendors pay between 10 to 20% of their earnings as rent. In Mumbai the total rents collection amounted to 4billion rupees annually. In Delhi,. it was found that 500 million rupees are collected monthly as rent from these people. These findings were later endorsed by the Central Vigilance Commission.
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The SNDT ILO study on Mumbai found that around 85 per cent of the street vendors complained of stress related diseases migraine, hyper acidity, hyper tension and high blood pressure
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ibid

children through awareness generation, leadership development, livelihood and income generating programs in key economic sectors by forming self-sustainable groups Coincidentally, ADITHI was undergoing restructuring and Viji found this an opportune time to get an organization dedicated to this cause. So what began like a project of ADITHI was immediately registered as an independent institution issues of the street vendors being one of the key agenda Thus , NIDAN4 was registered under Societies Registration Act 1860 in 1996, having FCRA certification bearing registration No 94 along with 12 A & 80 G under the Income Tax Act. The organization has been intensively working with informal workers of Bihar and outside. The target Group Outreach has always been the unorganized worker / Migrant workers / Street Vendor / Waste Pickers and other informal sector workers. It has been at the fore front of the campaign for a policy for urban street vendors and it works consistently on advocating better policies and programs for the informal workers- from work conditions to housing to micro-finance to social security It has also joined many organizations in the campaign for Comprehensive Social Security for informal workers. The need for intervention The urban poor in most Indian cities are working in the informal sector. Poverty and lack of gainful employment in the rural areas and in the smaller town drives large number of people to the cities for work and livelihood. In the urban location, hawking and street vending is one of the means of earning a livelihood, as it requires minor financial input and the skills involved are also low. The number of street vendors has increased sharply during the past few years. The total number of street vendors in the country is estimated at around 10 million5. Some studies estimate that street vendors constitute approximately 2 per cent of the population of a metropolis. 6 Mumbai has roughly 250,000 street vendors and Kolkata has nearly 200,000. Other cities such as Ahmedabad and Patna have around 80,000 street vendors.7 Their numbers have increased ever since the economic liberalization policy of 1991. Several large factories and establishments have closed down due to rationalization and the workers who have lost their secure jobs are now on the streets. Street vending is one of the ways of eking out an existence for these people. Although there are provisions in the Municipal Acts of many cities to provide licenses for Street Vendors, the process has invariably been stopped 20 years back all across the country and the process was also cumbersome. As a result, street vending emerged
NIDAN is headed by Mr. Arbind Singh, a sociologist by training from Delhi University and has been active in the development sector since fifteen years. Mr. Singh was selected as the Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008 by the Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation for his work on inclusion of the poor in the emerging markets.
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National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, note 2 above. Ibid. 7 Nasvi study of 7 cities, as quoted by Sharit Bhowmik, Seminar, op cit

wherever the vendors found some market and place to sell with a precarious hot mix of bribe to Municipal and Police officials and patronage of Politicians and criminals, they started with their business. With liberalizing and globalizing the vendors were found to be exposed to onslaught from all. Politicians who wanted cities clean for attracting investment. Planners & even Municipal bodied felt the street vending is nuisance and Police felt the vendors jammed traffic and camouflaged anti socials. Courts too felt that the city authorities needed enabling judgments. The problem of retail chains and established shopkeepers too emerged. This holy mix of peoples representatives and administration made life and livelihood a difficult choice for the vendors. Nidan identified the vulnerability of the situation and sorted out to respond to the emerging issue. To have good grasp of the issues Nidan initiated a large scale survey of street vendors of Patna covering nearly 6000 street vendors. The exposure helped the team understand the situation of street vendors in particular and urban poor in general. The survey, besides others, revealed the complex exploitative informal lending mechanism to urban poor. Only 44 out of 6000 respondents had ever been sanctioned a bank loan. Everywhere there was a craving for friendly institutional finance. This offered an apt opportunity and Nidans tryst with micro credit and access to finance for the poor vendors began. Nidan also identified that though the poor in informal economy are economically active, they remain poor and vulnerable because they, are unorganized lack assets owned and controlled by them lack access to financial services and lack of sensitivity of mainstream institutions lack of social security growing anti poor macro environment

Description of the strategy and approach of intervention Nidan tapped upon the wealth of the poorprimarily their numerical strengthand then aggregated them into economies of scale. This process of collectivizing helped them to generate social capital, representation and voice for the unorganized poor, which they then leveraged to launch their own businesses and bring about the needed shift in the policy. They could make these set of street vendors get the recognition as wealthcreators. Nidans innovation in organizing the street vendors is based on the following tenets: The poorest can be competitive and ethical market players if provided with access to social security and financial services. The poor require infrastructures for aggregation and scale. Institutions run by the poor must quickly become financially sustainable. Businesses led by the poor must manage strong balance sheets while stopping corruption and civil rights violations.

Nidans service expanded to legal aid, advocacy initiatives, campaigns and on-going, one-on-one redressal of individual and group rights violations. In 1995 the Nidan-initiated National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), a platform of 300,000 vendors across 20 states, successfully eliminated the hafta system in Patna and ensured legal status and licenses to more than 1891 street vendors8. The multiple services of Nidan interlock into a comprehensive web of securities. A vendor, for example, can be the member of her occupation-based co-operative, but can access trainings, bank linkages, insurance, loans, child care services and advocacy initiatives through Nidans on-going programs. She can be part of NASVI, and market her products through Angana, a retail brand launched by Nidan. In the event of a face-off with an exploitative client, she can access the criminal justice system through Nidans legal aid services. In total, she can grow her income and sustain her business without interfacing with the exploitative regime that had determined her daily wage in the pre1995 years of survival Process of implementation of the intervention The expanding outreach and activities necessitated structure, systems and procedures. Interestingly, the structures and systems also followed a self-evolving conduit. The Journey Initial support Both ADITHI and SEWA were the rallying points as they espoused the issues of the unorganized street vendors. In Nidan they found a young institution with young collective leadership committed to the cause. They nurtured and hand held systematically and offered all the capacity building opportunities for the young cadre. More than financial security they offered them tools and scientific methodologies to conduct their activities. First things to happen The survey of the 6000 street vendors conducted by NIDAN helped them to identify the issues and prioritize their intervention points. Access to financial services emerging as the prime need of the street vendors, NIDAN started collectivizing the vendors to access financial access from the Banks Evolving institutions for and by the street vendors - SHGs Nidan started with three Self Help Groups in 1997, not to access subsidy of the government, but to help create an institution of the street vendors to help them express their collective clout. This turned the poor from a position of insignificance to the status of being credit worthy. This prompted the banks to come forward with credit
The Patna Municipal Corporation used to assign contract of the vending space to contractors as per competitive bidding who in torn would collect a weekly charge from the vendors who used the space.
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support. A small beginning with a paltry sum of Rs47, 000 to 47 women vendors in 1997 from the banks was the beginning. This helped acknowledge their credentials of credit worthiness by developing strong partnership. This establishes the fact that extending credit services to the informal workers not only benefited them to access the financial services which in turn positively affected their livelihoods but also introduced a market for the financial service providers which remained untapped for long. Promotion of Thrift and Credit Co-operatives Further while credit support was able to meet the loan requirement of the informal workers, the astonishing phenomenon of even the meager income or savings not being able to be kept safely in Banks or any other institutions forced Nidan to set up thrift and credit co-operatives beginning with the Sanchay Thrift and Credit Cooperative in Patna Thrift and Credit Co-operatives were then set up in all areas of Nidans work making them an important strategy in providing financial services to the street vendors. An all women thrift and credit co-operative known as Sanchay was registered in November 2001 .This co-operative has grown over the years and today it has 3100 share holders. The success of Sanchay T&C in Patna encouraged to set up similar T&Cs in two other places, namely Vaishali and Muzaffarpur and they are now in the process of setting up another two being set up in Katihar and Samastipur. Micro-Credit Services Nidan introduced the micro-credit services with a modest portfolio of Rs.30, 000 linked to three SHGs. Nidans micro- finance is a hope for thousand of members, today. Presently there are around 11,902 borrowers, in 5 districts through 992 SHGs. At the end of March 2008 Nidan has a corpus of Rs.21.11 million available for lending. Cooperatives and collective enterprises Nidan began its work with Co-operatives in the year 2003. As on date, it has promoted 19 Cooperatives and includes sectors such as (1) financial-04; (2) trading -05, (3) services-02; (4) producers-06; and (5) consumer-02. The members work profile ranges from artisans who produce jute items, handicrafts and handloom items, sweepers, rag and waste pickers, vegetable vendors, livestock traders and home based workers. A turn over of approximately Rs.1.70 crores exhibit and reflect a substantial potential. More than the financial and productive output the institutional output of this endeavor is tremendous. The democracy, equality and inclusion are great out puts the members enjoy and savor. The cooperatives are located in Patna, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali and Katihar and are operational close to the district head quarters.

Social Security As Nidans micro-credit program strengthened, it received a severe set back in 1999 due to death of 3 members affecting adversely the families of these three members and also the Self Help Groups to which they belonged. A serious introspection led to beginning of a new program on social security with three components-Insurance, Childcare and maternal protection and health. Network and advocacy Policy advocacy is one of the important agenda of Nidan. All the work Nidan do has been reflected in the advocacy efforts micro credit self help groups, insurance, housing, livelihood, child rights, quality education, sanitation. Its engagement with the issues of the unorganized sector has helped develop important insight. The advocacy has used memorandum, joint petition, demonstration, assembly level debates, dialogue, workshop, PIL as important tools. Interface with government agencies and other stake holders, rally, use of poster and pamphlets, wall writings, promoting networks, district level, state level as well as national /international levels (WEIGO). Problems like harassment by the police, anti socials, more-or less payment of wages, exploitation at work place, gender issues, and evictions are taken up in Districts. Mass meeting, demonstrations, dharna, rally, petition, memorandum are organized. Panel of lawyers in districts have been constituted to assist victimized members The physical attacks on them, and unfair arrests have vanished. They each save between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 annually as a result of not having to pay bribes, and the like. There is no contract system for collection of municipal fee. The frequent pressure from Nidan and other trade unions marks a number of changes in the policy of welfare schemes.A handbook on situation and rights of workers in the unorganized sector has been printed. The book details out the various legal provisions for the workers like street vendors, construction workers etc. Various types of posters were printed on the rights of street vendors. These posters were very helpful in publicizing the rights. In Phulwarisarif Nagar Panchayat has announced to cancel contract system on Urban Street vendor in November 2006, followed by Patna Municipal Corporation. It raised a big hue and cry on the part of the contractors. Contractors are known goons parties and leaders; they tried firstly to put this on hold. Strong organizing however made them retreat. About 5000 street vendors benefited by this decision. In Mithapur area, 287 street vendors were evicted from their place of vending for construction work. Nidan raised this issue and after a long discussion with Patna Municipal Corporation and District Administration, Vendors were rehabilitated in Karbighaiya. National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) was initiated in September 1998 to bring together the street vendor organizations of India so as to collectively struggle for macro-level changes which had become imminent to support the livelihood of around 10 million vendors which stood severely

threatened due to outdated laws and changing policies, practices and attitudes of the powers. Facilitated initially by Nidan, NASVI, started as a network of street vendors is an independent identity. NASVI has a membership of 376 street vendors organizations representing approximately 3,16,378 of street vendors from 20 states. The number continues to be expanding. NASVI is, now, part of a global network the Street Net. NASVIs influence has been manifold. Besides influencing the local environment of hostility against the street vendors it influenced the state and national level policies. Impact of the Intervention Once unorganized but now entrepreneurs, shareholders and advocacy champions, Nidans members are reporting income growths of 100 percent and more. Advocacy has seeded a new fearlessness. Through NASVI, Section 34 of the Bihar Police Act, which allowed for arbitrary arrests of vendors (ostensibly on grounds of removing obstruction), was eliminated. Today, 1891 street vendors in Patna carry formal identity cards. NASVI, has also lobbied for the passage of the first National Policy for Urban Vendors under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. The policy is en route to becoming a law. Voicing livelihood issues and accessing services About 42% of the SHG membership is that of scheduled castes. Women membership outnumbers the men with a female- male ratio of 97:03. The savings of members as of 31st of March 2008 has been estimated to be Rs.2.75 crores with bank balance of Rs.71 lakhs. Internal lending from the own fund has been to the tune of Rs.81 lakhs during 2007-2008 Changing lives of the informal sector workforce
Kewal Devi, the juice seller Kewal Devi 38 yrs of age some 12 years back earned Rs 20-25 and her husband earned Rs. 30-40 only and had to support 3 daughters and 1 son. After joining the Amba Mahila Mandal, she became the group leader and also became the Sanchay Cooperatives Secretary. After taking loans she invested in juice making pull cart and today she owns 3 sugarcane juice making pull cart. Nasreen Bano Nasreen Bano of Danapur joined Nur Jahan Mahila Mandal when she was of 20 years of age. She had 3-4 sisters and a brother. Her father earned Rs. 60/day and mother used to sell bangles and earn Rs. 40 / day. After her matriculation she joined Nidan group and made a saving of Re. 1 daily. In 2003 she took Rs. 2000 as loan to start a bangle-selling unit. Again in 2005 she took Rs. 12000 from Nidan and another Rs. 6000 from the groups kitty to buy a shop. Today she is pursuing her graduation and earning Rs. 2500 Rs. 3000 / month Jayanti Devi Jayanti Devi, now 21 of Usri Shikarpur, Danapur, Patna was married when she was 14 years only and used to work in others field as labourer. In 2004 she joined the group Sakhi Mahila Mandal and received a loan of Rs. 1000/ and took land on lease. Next year she took Rs. 5000 for onion cultivation. Today she has made a house, signs her name, sends her children to school and does cultivation. Asmeli Khatoon Asmeli Khatoon 22 yrs, joined Hasrat Goshpak Mahila Mandal of Raja Bajar Patna in 2002. She also joined the Sanchay Cooperative along with her mother also a member. When she got married due to domestic problems in her in laws house, both she and her husband were thrown out of the house. Her husband was unemployed. She got Rs. 2000 as loan. She started a small shop in the veranda of her mothers house. She made regular repayment and took Rs. 5000 and reinvested on a slight bigger scale. In 2004 she took Rs. 20000 to spread her business and started paying rent to her mother for space hiring. Today with the help of 8 her husband she has bought a fridge and started dairy outlet and cold drinks shop. She has also purchased

a scooter and is educating her children.

Gaining recognition The Government of India adopted the National Policy on 20th January 2004. The policy reflects a landmark change in the perception of the street vendors moving from prohibition to regulation approach. The introduction to the National Policy in Urban Street Vendors, 2004 states thus: The role played by the street vendors in the economy as also in the society needs to be given due credit but they are considered as unlawful entities and are subjected to continuous harassment by civic authorities." It further states that "this policy tries to ensure that this important section of the urban population finds recognition for its contribution to society, and is conceived of as a major initiative for urban poverty alleviation." NASVI was a part of the drafting committee and one of the architects of this unique bill. Patna Municipal Corporation, steps the first milestone The PMC gave advertisement in the newspaper that it has decided to cancel the contract it had given to different contractors and also asked the contractors to collect the money they had deposited in PMC. As a result of all these, the extortion racket has almost stopped. PMC turned out to be the first Municipal Corporation in India implementing the National Policy in letter and spirit. Wining over Identity Crisis As per the National Policy, identity cum licenses is also being issued to street vendors. 1981 such licenses have been issued. It is planned that all the existing vendors will be given licenses. The PMC has involved Nidan in issuing licenses. Bihar gears up to protect livelihoods The process has been initiated in Bihar for adoption of the National Policy for Urban Street Vendors and a draft Bill for street vendor namely, BIHAR STATE STREET VENDORS (PROTECTION OF LIVELIHOOD & REGULATION OF TRADE) BILL, 2009 is underway. Securing livelihoods with equity and dignity As a result of the intensive campaign and organizing, the Prime Minister Shri Man Mohan Singh announced on 15th August, 2008 that all unorganized workers would get life and health insurance coverage and those unorganized workers who are Below Poverty Line (BPL) will get pension coverage, was a historic announcement if it sees the light of the day, it will go a long way in securing a better secured future for the 37 crore unorganized workers. In a nutshell, it is evident that NIDAN has multiplied its portfolio from organizing the street vendors in SHGs to attain collective strength to access financial services and to voice their issues, to introducing health insurance, legal aid support and education for the children for securing livelihoods with dignity and equity to linking these groups to national and international forums for policy advocacy to shed of vulnerabilities of their livelihoods by enforcing the National Policy on Street vendors.

Analysis of the impact: Nidan has undoubtedly created an overwhelming impact on securing the livelihoods of the street vendors. Adopting need based and self-evolving strategies Nidan designed and adapted strategies and programs which are compatible with the local situation with strong involvement of the stakeholders. Through its strategies and actions it has developed a formidable clout in the social development sector and strong support base. Prompt ness in service delivery as per the rising need of the target group resulted in enhanced acceptance, faith and response. Micro-insurance of Nidan protects the street vendors against vulnerabilities of sickness and untimely deaths. This program provided unique example in Bihar while covering complicated issues of health and poverty. Most of the intervention was unique and first of kind to be initiated in Bihar and attracted overwhelming response from the recipients. Educating the target group on the rights and reaching to them in vernacular languages thus acting upon the human capital. NIDANs galvanization of the street vendors and flagging of the issues, faced by them, attracts the policy makers. The huge conglomeration of the determined street vendors forced the policy makers to listen to them. So much has been the impact that the then chief minister had to assure livelihoods opportunity and policy support to the cause of the street vendors NIDAN has been pursuing. Strictly follows the Livelihood Framework wherein initiation is from institution building and mainstreaming for financial services access and working on human, social and political capital for securing livelihood with dignity and equity. The intervention have come a full circle in ensuring livelihoods with dignity and equity. The uniqueness of NIDANs intervention lie in the fact that it has dealt the livelihood issues of the street vendors in totality establishing the fact that the livelihood means freedom , food security, shelter, equity and justice. Most of the livelihood practitioners touch upon the economic aspects related to livelihood promotion but NIDAN has expanded its portfolio in dealing with the well being issues relating livelihoods with significant success NIDANs intervention though has dwelt on the policy needs and setting up of thrift and credit facilities. However, very limited efforts are made towards enhancing the capacities of the street vendors to upgrade products and services, product portfolio management (as vending is highly sensitive to market developments and demands) or to provide a choice for alternate livelihood options. The growing awareness among the consumers on quality of produces and services and lack of any such monitoring mechanisms with the vendors can adversely affect their livelihoods. It is difficult to assess the actual impact of thrift and credit facilities and share of benefits owing to involvement of large number of stakeholders along the market channels. Group dynamics on group-based sharing of benefits as well as losses at time becomes deterrent to the individual participations in SHGs (as common to most of SHGs)

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As of now, the efforts are concentrated on pockets having a substantial population of vendors i.e. cities and urban centers. The efforts need to percolate down to scattered local vendors in the rural areas (this would be a challenge as efforts needed to organize them would be high compared to the number of beneficiaries). National Level Policy may need further stricter and more objective adaptations at State levels as regards: (few observations are made based on the 'National Policy for urban street-vendors) a. 'Spatial Planning norms: demarcation of vending zones' provides arrangements for allocating demarcated zones for hawkers and vendors as well as defining of vending and non-vending zones. However, it needs to address to the issue of season adaptations and migratory patterns, as this would result in free-riders and conflicts in terms of access to space. b. 'Quantitative norms' refers to the norms for amount of space to be provided for vendors' market (at least to the extent of 2 to 2.5% of the total city population). However, this norm may conflict with various other planning guidelines and requirements of the State as well as create congestion of space (depending on the service requirements of the population and the existing vendor's population). Thus, necessitating that State should have thorough and participatory discussions with the vendors associations and committees to chalk out detailed town/city plans. Conclusion As discussed earlier, street vendors account for around 2% of the total population in the cities and urban centers. Thus, there is a huge scope and need of organizing the vendors and strengthening their livelihoods. There is still a lack of state level implementation of national level policy on urban street vendors. The growing middleclass and their enhanced ability to pay, provides good opportunity for the street vendors (most of the clientele of street vendors are middle class households) Co-operative and SHGs groups of vendors has increased the ability of vendors to bargain in the open market as well as made them better equipped for distress situations. This encourages healthy competitive environment in the informal markets that was earlier eclipsed by contractors and local money-lenders. The issue under concern by the implementing agency is of a vast nature influencing a large population. With task of such nature specially when the issue under consideration needs mass mobilization for mindset change and policy influence in order to attain desired result, there should be more like minded agencies sharing larger responsibility along with NIDAN in collaboration to sustain the pressure of movement.

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