Not getting government benefits, claim Rajasthan's street vendors

By enacting the Street Vendors Act, 2014, the central government aimed to protect the rights of urban street vendors and regulate street vending activities

Roadside shop owners in Rajasthan have claimed that they are not getting government benefits, in accordance with the Act on street vendors.

Municipal bodies were to prepare a plan on this and create special vending zones where these shopkeepers could be housed. However, apart from the paperwork, not much has been done in this regard, the street vendors allege.

By enacting the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the central government aimed to protect the rights of urban street vendors and regulate street vending activities.

The states were to make rules and implement this Act through urban or municipal bodies.

“In Rajasthan, rules for this were made in the year 2016 and work was started by forming street vendor committees in urban bodies. Despite this, to date, about 1.5 million street vendors across the state have not been able to get the benefit of this scheme,” said Babloo Ram Meena, a street vendor.

Meena said that till now, plans for street vendors have been prepared only on paper.

Neither have the street vendors got vending zones nor have they been linked to welfare schemes of the Centre. He requested the newly-formed BJP government to do something for them at the earliest. 

The situation is similar in the capital Jaipur. Here, work was started in the year 2017 by forming a street vendor committee.

Around 13,000 street vendors were surveyed, under this scheme and issued identity cards. Vending zones were established at 86 places in the city. After this, there was no progress.

According to state government officials, first the Assembly elections in 2018, then the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and the work of dividing the Jaipur Municipal Corporation into two affected the progress on the street vendors.

“After a long gap, a town vending committee was formed again in February 2023 and 5,600 new street vendors were surveyed. Identity cards were issued to them, but due to the negligence of urban bodies, this scheme did not take off beyond a point,” an official said.

Meena said basic facilities like platforms for street vendors, tin sheds, toilets and water in the vending zone, among others, were to be finalised. However, it did not take off in most of the cities in the state.

Ram Kishan Sindhi, who runs a vegetable stall in Jaipur’s posh Colony C-Scheme, said the scheme is good but most vendors are yet to avail its benefits.

He said the scheme cannot be completed only by giving identity cards and creating vending zones. These zones still do not have proper facilities, which were promised or were part of the Act.