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
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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
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