16th Meeting of National Association of Street Vendors of India

Tags: State News

Recently, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri addressed the 6th meeting of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) organised on the topic "From encroachers to self-employment".

Street vendors 

• Street vendors are individuals who offer to sell goods to the public on a large scale without a permanent built structure to sell the goods.

• Street vendors permanently occupy pavements or other public/private places to sell goods or temporarily move their goods from one place to another by carrying their goods in push carts or head baskets.

Street vendors population

• The number of street vendors has increased significantly in major cities around the world, especially in developing countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

• Around 49.48 lakh street vendors have been identified in India.

• Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of 8.49 lakh street vendors, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 7.04 lakh street vendors.

• There are only 72,457 street vendors in Delhi.

• No street vendor has been identified in Sikkim.

Constitutional Provisions for Street Vendors

• Article 19(1)(g) gives fundamental right to Indian citizens to practice any profession or to carry on business, trade or commerce.

• According to Article 14 of the Constitution, the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

• Under Article 38(1), the State shall direct the State to promote the welfare of the people by ensuring a social order in which social, economic and political justice shall be ensured in the national institutions.

• Article 38(2) directs to 'reduce inequalities in income status, facilities and opportunities'.

• Article 39 (A) directs the State to formulate policy to ensure that citizens, men and women alike, have the right to access to an adequate means of livelihood.

• Article 41 specifically provides for the 'right to work' within the limits of the economic capacity of the state.