Question

how these law infringe the right to livehood of the hawkers and vendors

Answer 1

A few weeks ago, a number of street vendors were illegally evicted by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board following a complaint by a local resident (who also happened to be a Member of the Ruling Party). The complaint was based on the notion that street vendors were an unsightly addition to the road on which they were selling their wares. Despite the presence of a full-fledged Act which seeks to protect the rights of street vendors across the country (the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014), this eviction was carried out in a solid display of antipathy towards the vendors and corruption by government officials. However, what stood out most strongly to me was the aversion that people seemed to have towards the street vendors for daring to practise their profession on a public street. This attitude is characterised by referring to them as a “nuisance” or a “menace”, whose means of sustenance is not worth sharing a public space with. Objections regarding the quality of what they sell or that they cause traffic disturbances often come second to this primary concern that street vendors are “dirtying the streets” with their public displays.

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