Question : Street Vendors

(a) whether various States in India have high number of street vendors who earn their livelihood by putting stalls on the pavements and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether often the eviction drives are launched by the various States to remove these vendors and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has any scheme on experimental basis to protect their livelihood and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government had enacted an act to protect the interests of these street vendors; and

(e) whether the street vendors are getting the benefits of this Act and if so, the details thereof?

(a) to (e) In order to protect rights of urban street vendors, regulate street vending activities and to ensure uniformity in legal framework for street vending, the Government has enacted the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. It is implemented by respective States/UTs by framing their respective Rules, Schemes, Bye-laws and Plan for Street Vending.As per provision of the Act, the Town Vending Committee shall, within such period and in
such manner as may be specified in the scheme, conduct a survey of all existing street vendors, within the area under its jurisdiction, and subsequent survey shall be carried out at least once in every five years. As informed by the States/UTs, the number of street vendors identified so far is 11,56,460.

The Act specifies the conditions under which eviction and relocation of street vendors can take place and also lays down the procedure thereof.

Further, for protecting livelihoods of street vendors, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is also implementing, through States/UTs, Support to Urban Street Vendors, as a component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Urban Livelihoods Mission. It aims at skilling of street vendors, support micro-enterprise development, credit enablement and pro vending urban planning along with supporting social security options for vulnerable segment sections of the vendors.


*****