7th issue

GPLUS AUG 10 - AUG 16, 2013 9
The street
vendors of Guwahati
are a part of
the city’s landscape,
but they
may soon become
extinct unless
proper policies
and schemes
are implemented
to protect their
rights.
MrinMoyee Hazarika
Every Sunday and Wednesday,
the footpaths across the B.K.
Kakoti road, Ulubari, wear
a different look. On these two particular
days of the week, the footpath
becomes livelier and the atmosphere
is bustling with the voices of
hundreds of women vendors, who
converge at the place from areas in
and around Guwahati. They convert
the street into a means of livelihood
with their stocks of fresh vegetables,
these vendors add a different hue to
the city ambience.
The illiterate and underprivileged
women from various places
like Khetri, Sonapur, Naziraghat,
Boko, Chaygaon, Barpeta, Goalpara
and Darang crowd the Ulubari
market armed with baskets full of
fresh vegetables and with a hope of
earning some ‘city’ money. However,
despite their hard labour,
sometimes these easy-going tribal
women have to face unexpected harassment
from the administration
and local hoodlums.
SAGAS
Like many of her peers, Sabitri
Kathar from Diksak under the
Sonapur post office, started the
vending vegetables as a means
of livelihood. Every Sunday and
Wednesday, she makes her way to
Guwahati from her native village
with vegetables collected from the
local farmers of her village. Sometimes,
she also collects them from
wholesale traders and sells those on
the roadside market situated at the
A Hard Day’s Plight
STREET ViEW: A typical day of business at B.K. Kakoty Road, Ulubari (Guwahati)
B K Kakoti road.
“In order to reach Guwahati
early, I start the journey from my
village at around 2 am clock in the
morning. Carrying a basket full of
vegetables on my head, I have to
walk till I get a vehicle to Guwahati.
I reach the Ulubari market at
around 5 am and after that, I ready
myself for the day. Usually, I earn Rs
400 and sometimes more,” Sabitri, a
widow who started this trade ten
years back, after her husband died.
“Both of my daughters are married
now. My elder son is a farmer
but, even then, I find it quite tough
to run my family with the meagre
income. I have to pay the authority
and sometimes other parties too out
of this,” Sabitri added.
The situation is more or less
similar with Padmini Wary from
Barpeta who also comes to the
Ulubari market every Sunday and
Wednesday. Her husband works as
a daily wage labour and out of her
four children, both her sons have
left for Mumbai in search of work.
“I started the business to help
my husband. I come to the Ulubari
market with varieties of vegetables
either from Gobardhan market or
the Barpeta road, on a train,” she
said.
Padmini, who had come to the
market on Sunday, amidst the violence
going on in BTAD area, fur-
As per the nSVP
there should be
three vending zones
2
1
No vending zones (where no
form of vending is allowed)
Restricted vending zones (Controlled
& regulated Vending)
3
Vending zones (where vending
is allowed).
ther said, “I do not earn much. But
while carrying vegetables by train,
I have to pay money to the Railway
Police Force too.”
Another woman, Basanti Wary
from Barpeta takes a train to Guwahati.
She arrives at the market on
Sunday morning and returns back
by the evening. “My husband and I
used to farm our own land at Dolgaon
in Barpeta. But, due to financial
conditions, we have started this
business and my family supports
me in this,” Basanti said. “We could
not send our daughter to college,
but now she has been able to resume
her studies. It’s not a lot, but it helps
to meet ends meet.”
LiVinG SnAGS
Sabitri, Padmini and Basanti
are just a few examples of people,
especially women, who go all-out
to make an honest living. However,
even after that, they have to face
constant hardships from various
sections of the society.
“For the last seven to eight years,
we have been trading at this place,
but we have been deprived of our
rights and have not got any basic
facilities from the authorities. There
is no drinking water, toilet facilities
or sheds in the market place,” President,
Mahila Saak Pacholi Byabsyai
Sanstha, Mamoni Bordoloi said.
Apart from this, the women
vendors of the Ulubari market also
have to face the wrath of the GMC,
the police personnel and locals.
“Earlier, the GMC officials used
to evict us frequently but, as time
went by, the number of customers
increased and the eviction drives
reduced. We are still facing harassment
from the police. They collect
money from us and sometimes take
vegetables without paying. Besides,
some gundas too are collecting
money (Rs 20 to Rs 50) from us,”
Mamoni said.
She also mentioned that the
vendors had to pay Rs 10 to the
GMC, for which they do not receive
any money receipt. “The government
should and must implement
the ‘National street vendor policy
2009’ (NSVP) in Assam. That is
Society
the only way through which the
vendors can exercise their rights,”
Tapobrat Bhuyan, official of sSTEP
(Society for social transformation
and environment protection) said.
The Assam-based NGO has
been fighting for the vendor’s rights,
especially the street vendors of the
state. “Due to the non-implementation
of the policy, the vendors have
to pay Rs 20 to the GMC as fine. But,
they are charged Rs 10 instead and
they do not provide any receipt,”
Bhuyan added.
Regarding the advantages of
NSVP, Bhuyan also stated that the
policy directs that there should be
three vending zones – no vending
zones (where no form of vending
will be allowed), restricted vending
zones (authorities can have
control over it) and vending zones
(where vending is allowed). Moreover,
a town vending committee
will also be formed, where members
from the municipality corporation,
NGOs and members from the vendor
committees will be included.
“After implementation of the
NSVP, the GMC would not be able
to take fines. Instead they will have
to collect tax and the vendors will
get a permanent place for their
business. We have been submitting
memorandum to the authority to
implement the policy in the state
of Assam. Moreover, to create more
awareness on this, we are planning
to submit a memorandum to the
CM with the support of around
5000 members of the civil society,”
Bhuyan said.
HOPE
Street vendors are a part of the
Indian culture. The vendors coming
in to the city contribute significantly
to the urban economy and to its
vitality as well. Unfortunately, their
lives and profession remain unnoticed,
often tampered by political,
economic and social interests. The
right of these underprivileged to
earn their livelihood with dignity
and profitability is fundamental as
well as critical to the city economy.
There is still hope for the women
vendors as well as the whole vendor
community that the plans and policies
will make their lives better and
make the growth of the city more
inclusive.