Data

General Issues
Business
Collections
Linking Participation and Economic Advancement
Location
India
Scope of Influence
National
Files
FINAL_NASVI_V2.pdf
Links
http://nasvinet.org/newsite/overview-of-street-vendors-a-little-history/
Start Date
End Date
Ongoing
No
Time Limited or Repeated?
A single, defined period of time
Purpose/Goal
Make, influence, or challenge decisions of government and public bodies
Approach
Advocacy
Informal engagement by intermediaries with political authorities
Social mobilization
Spectrum of Public Participation
Involve
Open to All or Limited to Some?
Open to All With Special Effort to Recruit Some Groups
Targeted Demographics
Stakeholder Organizations
General Types of Methods
Community development, organizing, and mobilization
Face-to-Face, Online, or Both
Face-to-Face
Types of Interaction Among Participants
Negotiation & Bargaining
Decision Methods
General Agreement/Consensus
Type of Organizer/Manager
Non-Governmental Organization
Type of Funder
Non-Governmental Organization
Staff
No
Volunteers
No
Evidence of Impact
Yes
Types of Change
Changes in public policy
Implementers of Change
Elected Public Officials

CASE

NASVI Lobbying for a National Urban Street Vendor Policy in India

General Issues
Business
Collections
Linking Participation and Economic Advancement
Location
India
Scope of Influence
National
Files
FINAL_NASVI_V2.pdf
Links
http://nasvinet.org/newsite/overview-of-street-vendors-a-little-history/
Start Date
End Date
Ongoing
No
Time Limited or Repeated?
A single, defined period of time
Purpose/Goal
Make, influence, or challenge decisions of government and public bodies
Approach
Advocacy
Informal engagement by intermediaries with political authorities
Social mobilization
Spectrum of Public Participation
Involve
Open to All or Limited to Some?
Open to All With Special Effort to Recruit Some Groups
Targeted Demographics
Stakeholder Organizations
General Types of Methods
Community development, organizing, and mobilization
Face-to-Face, Online, or Both
Face-to-Face
Types of Interaction Among Participants
Negotiation & Bargaining
Decision Methods
General Agreement/Consensus
Type of Organizer/Manager
Non-Governmental Organization
Type of Funder
Non-Governmental Organization
Staff
No
Volunteers
No
Evidence of Impact
Yes
Types of Change
Changes in public policy
Implementers of Change
Elected Public Officials

The National Street Vendor Association (NASVI), a federation of street traders, advocated for and then co-authored the first national policy on street vendors in India, which enabled more equitable economic participation.

Problems and Purpose

Highly restrictive and opaque licensing systems are often arbitrarily applied by police in India, thereby marginalizing millions of street vendors in the country.[1] NASVI, a federation of street traders, advocated for and then co-authored the first national policy on street vendors in India, which enabled more equitable economic participation.[2]

Background History and Context

Throughout India, street vending is a key way of livelihood generation for an estimated 15 percent of the informal urban working population[3]. It is a key profession that requires relatively little education and start-up capital and thus popular among the urban poor. It also provides cheap and popular services to large parts of the population; an integral part of urban retail distribution systems.[4] 

Whereas the Supreme Court of India had declared that vendors have a right to gain a livelihood on the streets (Government of India), provided they operated within the broad parameters of public policy, neither municipalities nor central government put in place appropriate policies. Instead, city legislation manages street vendors’ use of public space for gaining a livelihood through highly restrictive and opaque licensing systems, which are arbitrarily applied and responsible for creating elaborate systems of rent-seeking by the police, and a range of municipal agencies (which take payments from vendors).[5] 

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

Originating entities include: NASVI, SEWA, academics, and sympathetic civil servants, who managed to raise the issue of the policymaking agenda at the Ministry of Urban Affairs.[6]

Participant Recruitment and Selection

Participants were self-selected and included parties with a stake in the development of a national street vendor policy. The advocacy coalition comprised of NASVI, a national federation, together with the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), academics and others conducted research and then successfully used the evidence to influence authorities and then co-author the first national policy on street vendors in 2004.[7]

Methods and Tools

Know what methods or tools were used? Help us complete this section!

What Went on: Process, Interaction, and Participation 

Street vendors and partner organisations came together to form NASVI in 1998 following an international conference of street vendors in Bellagio, Italy.[8] 

Working through coalitions, they combined using sound evidence to inform policy advocacy and creating new spaces for policy deliberation with more confrontational strategies through demonstrations and marches on elected assemblies.[9]

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

By engaging the national government, and creating new spaces for policy deliberation and by framing new narratives regarding vendors’ economic contributions to city life, NASVI and partners were able to create progressive new policy enabling more equitable economic participation.[10] Subsequently, this coalition helped to craft national law seeking to properly regulate and protect street vendor livelihoods[11].

Analysis and Lessons Learned 

NASVI has successfully brought attention to street vendors throughout India while highlighting the challenges they face as well as the positive contributions they make to urban living. NASVI’s street vendor policy is the first time the government of India has begun to regulate self-employed workers in the informal economy. Furthermore, this legalisation and recognition has given voice and strength to street vendors to organise and advocate for their rights.[12]

See Also 

Stakeholder Group Process

Protest

References

[1] Bhowmik, Sharit K. Hawkers and the Urban Informal Sector. National Alliance of Street Vendors of India, 2010.

[2] Sinha, Shalini, and Sally Roever. “India’s National Policy on Urban Street Vendors.” WIEGO Policy Brief (Urban Policies) No, vol. 2, 2011, pp. 1–12.

[3] Chen, Martha Alter, and G. Raveendran. “Urban Employment in India: Recent Trends and Patterns.” Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, vol. 6, no. 2, May 2012, pp. 159–79. Crossref, doi:10.1177/097380101200600204.

[4] Bhowmik, Sharit K. “National Policy for Street Vendors.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 38, no. 16, 2003, pp. 1543–46. JSTOR.

[5] Bhowmik, Sharit K. “National Policy for Street Vendors.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 38, no. 16, 2003, pp. 1543–46. JSTOR.

[6] Sinha, Shalini, and Sally Roever. “India’s National Policy on Urban Street Vendors.” WIEGO Policy Brief (Urban Policies) No, vol. 2, 2011, pp. 1–12.

[7] te Lintelo, Dolf J. H. “Advocacy Coalitions Influencing Informal Sector Policy: The Case of India’s National Urban Street Vendors Policy.” Street Vendors in the Global Urban Economy, edited by Sharit Bhowmik, Routledge, 2010.

[8] Sinha, Shalini, and Sally Roever. “India’s National Policy on Urban Street Vendors.” WIEGO Policy Brief (Urban Policies) No, vol. 2, 2011, pp. 1–12.

[9] About NASVI | National Association of Street Vendors of India - NASVI. http://nasvinet.org/newsite/about-nasvi/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2019.

[10] te Lintelo, Dolf J. H. “Advocacy Coalitions Influencing Informal Sector Policy: The Case of India’s National Urban Street Vendors Policy.” Street Vendors in the Global Urban Economy, edited by Sharit Bhowmik, Routledge, 2010.

[11] te Lintelo, Dolf J. H. “Advocacy Coalitions Influencing Informal Sector Policy: The Case of India’s National Urban Street Vendors Policy.” Street Vendors in the Global Urban Economy, edited by Sharit Bhowmik, Routledge, 2010.

[12] Sinha, Shalini, and Sally Roever. “India’s National Policy on Urban Street Vendors.” WIEGO Policy Brief (Urban Policies) No, vol. 2, 2011, pp. 1–12.

External Links

NASVI Official Website: http://nasvinet.org/newsite/

Street Vendor in India: http://www.wiego.org/informal_economy_law/street-vendors-india 

Indian National Policy on Street Vendors, 2004: http://www.wiego.org/sites/wiego.org/files/resources/files/sv_national_policy_2004.pdf 

Notes

Lead image: NASVI, https://goo.gl/9at5WL

The first submission of this Participedia entry was adapted from a research project by the Institute of Development Studies, 'Linking Participation and Economic Advancement’ licensed and reproduced under Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0). Original source: https://www.eldis.org/keyissues/mapping-participation-economic-advancement