1. Laws Liberty & Livelihood A Call for A Bottom-up Agenda of Economic Reforms MANUSHI SANGATHAN E-mail: mail@manushi-india.org Website: www.manushi-india.org

2. Poverty is as unnatural as water flowing upwards. Some outside force is required to make water go against its natural tendency. Similarly, the main force behind groveling poverty in India is devious policies that facilitate crime, corruption and tyranny that emanates from Government offices. Poverty is an Unnatural Condition

4. Vendors provide vital and efficient network of distribution for a variety of consumer goods at affordable prices.

5. Vendors bring items of daily needs at convenient locations, including doorstep of the consumers thus help consumers save time and money on commutes. Vehicular pollution would be worse if all of us had to travel for daily necessities.

6. Vendors provide freshly cooked nutritious meals at far lower prices for the urban poor and the middle class than available in regular restaurants. Street foods turn out cheaper than home cooked food if one counts the time saved.. Vital Role of Street vendors… Food vendors like the one above above sell two paranthas and sabzi with pickle and small salad at Rs 10 per plate. The snack of sprouted daal comes at Rs 5 per plate. Urban poor cannot survive without them because most live in hovels without cooking facilities..

7. At an average turnover of Rs 1100 per day , the total all India turnover of business by street vendors would amount to Rs 4,015,00 crores .

8. They represent optimum utilization of space… Selling on bicycle… Ready made garments against a railing

10. Trade plays the same role for our economy that blood circulation plays for the human body. Just as obstructing the flow of blood supply to any body part can damage or the entire body or even cause death – so also putting needless restrictions on trade damage the entire economy The illegal status of vendors and unrealistic quotas on their numbers makes street vendors vulnerable to bribes, beatings and extortion. The number of vendors at any given location is in direct proportion to the footfall of customers and market demand for their services. Trade Flow Vital for the Economy

11. In Delhi alone the terror unleashed by the License-Quota-Raid-Raj for vendors leads to loss of income through bribes and confiscation of goods worth Rs 500 Crores per annum plus long periods of enforced idleness. Ahmedabad : Rs 80 crores Mumbai: Rs 400 crores

13. Anil Kumar sells two pathuras and a plate of chanas with pickle for Rs. 10. He and his two helpers start cooking at 4 a.m. By 8 a.m. they are ready to provide food to working poor living in nearby bastis. On an average, Anil works nearly 16 hours a day. The bribes he has to pay are as follows: Police .…Rs. 1000 per month MCD health Inspector … . Rs. 400 per month MCD general Inspector .…Rs. 200 per month Another unnamed govt. official .…Rs. 100 per month MCD sweeper .…Rs. 60 per month or Rs. 2 a day. Total … .Rs. 1760 per month A Typical Example of Payoffs

14. Recent Ban on Street Foods in Delhi On February 6, 2007, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi managed to manipulate the Supreme court into banning the sale of street foods in Delhi The reasoning given? Street foods are unhygienic and spread filth. Therefore, only pre cooked food will be allowed.

15. Studies have shown that Street foods have lower bacterial contamination than restaurant food because it is cooked fresh and in full public view whereas restaurant foods are much less safe because their kitchens are hidden from people’s gaze. Pre cooked food likely to be far less hygienic unless and can be managed only by big companies. Food vendors have not disappeared, only bribe rates have escalated.

17. Vendors on the run with their goods hastily packed in spread sheets as soon as they see police and municipal inspectors come to clear them. Those who can’t pack up and run fast end up having their goods confiscated to the accompaniment of beatings and abuses. Made to Feel Like Criminals

18. This young boy, like many others carries the socks he sells in a sack so that he can run and save his goods when the confiscation brigade attacks him This woman vendor carries the readymade goods she sells in two cloth bags that hang on her arms to escape her goods being snatched away. Desperate Changes in the Mode of Vending Due to Daily Assaults

19. Challans Rarely Mention the Location of Vendors Rajkol widow and sole earner of family– Repeatedly faces confiscation of goods and summons before magistrate as a criminal Municipalities Give New Definition to the Word “Criminal”

20. Typical Scenes During Clearance Operation Click for movie clip

21. One of the many Clearance Operation in Sewa Nagar, 1996 Click for movie

22. Constant Groveling and Humiliation Click for movie

23. Daily Economic War on Vendors Click for movie

25. This vendor selling low cost mobile phones pays Rs 10,000 per month to the shop owner in front of whose establishment in Nehru Place he is allowed to put a small display counter. Siding with Traders against Vendors… This young man pays Rs 100 -150 per day to the trader in front of whose shop he sits on a small stool displaying his business of cartridge refilling on a small cardboard box in the DDA owned shopping cum office complex, Nehru Place.

27. Supreme Court pronouncement in Sodan Singh and others Vs NDMC But the licensing procedures approved by the Supreme Court though well meaning are inherently flawed. They facilitate extortion rackets. “… the fundamental right of livelihood under Art 19(1)(g) of the Constitution cannot be denied to street /pavement hawkers,…”

30. In the Gainda Ram case, Supreme Court appointed Justice Thareja to review the N.D.M.C allotment of tehbazari claims and Justice Chopra performed a similar job for MCD areas. The reports prepared by both of them are scathing in their criticism of the functioning of the two municipal bodies: To quote Justice Thareja : “I thank Almighty who gave me the strength, courage and patience to complete the sensitive and arduous task… against all internal and external forces of dishonesty, threats, temptation, attempts to change the course of justice, lack of punctuality of staff which resulted in consuming five and a half years in completing the task. I had a concept in mind that in a democratic set up the Government is honest and fair and does not litigate with its citizens. The experience of working for local self government has changed my perception” (p.II). Judicial Indictments on the Track Record of Municipal Agencies

32. Manushi got sucked into this battle accidentally. In 1996-97 Madhu Kishwar was commissioned by Doordarshan to make a series of documentary films. Since she happened to witness several Clearance Operations in her neighbourhood during that period, she per chance shot some of that on camera and made a half hour documentary on the plight of street vendors and cycle rickshaw pullers in Delhi. The film entitled: “Udarikaran: Kewal Oopar ka Udar” (Liberlisation only for the top players of our economy?) was telecast over the National Network of Doordashan. This brought numerous vendors and cycle rickshaw owners knocking at Manushi doors to help them find a solution to this problem. How Manushi Got Involved in Vendors’ Rights Struggles

33. One of several Public Hearing of Street Vendors and rickshaw pullers organised by Manushi in starting April 2001. The panel consisted of eminent citizens presided over by the Central Vigilance Commissioner, Mr. N. Vittal Manushi’s interventions have led to a paradigm shift in the battle of vendors. did not fight just for the rights of our members or any particular group of uprooted vendors. Instead we demanded that the entire edifice of License Quota Raid Raj be dismantled thus extending the agenda of economic reforms to self employed poor.

34. August 2001 , Prime Minister Vajpayee announces New Policy Framework for Street Vendors and Rickshaw Pullers in response to Manushi’s campaign

35. Extract from Prime Minister Vajpayee’s letter and Concept Note sent to the Lt. Governor dated August 23, 2001 “ Recently there has been a spate of articles in the media about the operation of the licensing regime for hawkers and rickshaw pullers in Delhi (e.g. article titled: "Poor Excuses" by Tavleen Singh in India Today, 9 July 2001, "Regulate street hawkers" in Times of India 16 July 2001). [Both these articles are based on MANUSHI study and facts that emerged through the Lok Sunwayi of street vendors and rickshaw operators]. A study by a high profile NGO, Manushi, titled: "How the License Quota Raj Impacts the Urban Poor" was also released. Sh N. Vittal, Central Vigilance Commissioner, has written to the Delhi Chief Minister, Smt. Shiela Dikshit, drawing her attention to the problems. The broad points made in these articles, the Manushi study, and Sh. Vittal’s letter are as follows: Continued on next page

37. Extracts from Former Prime Minister’s letter to LG Dear Shri Kapoor, The policy of restrictive issue of licenses for hawkers and rickshaw pullers is a perversion of the SC judgement in Saudan Singh Vs NDMC and others, 1987, which ruled that hawking etc. represented a fundamental right to livelihood and was subject only a reasonable regulations… The restrictive licensing system enables rents to be collected by the officials who process, issue, and enforce licenses . Hawkers … are also subject to atrocities by these functionaries, e.g. destruction or misappropriation of the hawkers wares.. . That it is time that the licensing system is reformed so that the hawkers … belonging to the poorest sections of urban society, are enabled to pursue their modest livelihoods without extortion . This would convey that message that policy reforms benefit the poor, and not only the middle class or well-to-do… Accordingly, I advise that the Government of the national Capital Region of Delhi, addresses this task of policy reform urgently. Yours sincerely, A.B. Vajpayee Dated August 23, 2001

39. Prime Minister Vajpayee had assigned the responsibility on the L.G. of Delhi However, the entire administration went overboard in trying to sabotaging the policy and made sure things got worse for vendors. Before declaring vending zones, the city administration started declaring large parts of the city as non-hawking zones – including prime shopping areas like Connaught Place. For example, on 28 th Jan 2002 the Nehru Place vendors were told that since the Prime Minister Mr Vajpayee is visiting to inaugurate the organisation called Astha Kunj, they were required to vacate their complex for a day or two because of security reasons. However, the vendors were never allowed to return back to their places. Soon after Nehru Place was declared a ZERO Tolerance Zone for Vendors. Operation Sabotage

40. Central Government adopts a new National Policy for Street Vendors, 20th January 2004 Even while policy announced for Delhi vendors was being sabotaged, National Task Force for Street Vendors was set up by the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation in 2002. Member of this Task Force included Sewa, Manushi, Hawkers Sangram Samiti of Kolkatta and Bombay Hawkers Union etc. This resulted in a National Policy for Street Vendors which was approved by the cabinet in January 2004.