ID cards not issued; Street vendors protest at BBMP office

• Street vendors avail government schemes like loans and health insurance schemes through ID card from BBMP

Bengaluru: As street vendors have not yet been given identity (ID) cards from BBMP, hundreds of street vendors sat in protest outside the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) South Zone office on Monday. The IDs have not been issued even though officials have conducted surveys close to a year ago in September 2017.

Identity card from the BBMP helps street vendors avail government schemes like loans and health insurance schemes.

Following a Karnataka High Court order which was hearing petitions about hardships faced by street vendors, in the form of extortion and harassment by local strongmen and police, the survey by the BBMP officials was initiated.

“We will not leave until we are provided by ID cards. In some areas like Koramangala, Sarjapur etc, people are being evicted as they don’t have ID proof. It is also important for medical insurance, banks ask for ID cards when we ask for loan. Especially, women are struggling to avail these benefits due to a lack of an ID card,” said Babu, president of Bengaluru Jilla Beedhi Vyapari Sanghatanegala Okkuta.

At the time of survey, various NGOs had pointed out that while the number of street vendors is estimated to be more than a lakh, the BBMP had only counted 25,000 persons.

Street vendors had also written to the South Zone Commissioner, pointing out that officials were demanding money from vendors in order to be included in the survey, and were also citing trivial excuses like shortage of forms for stopping the surveying exercise abruptly

Street vending is protected by the Street Vendors (protection of livelihood and regulation of street vending) Act, passed in 2014, which states that all vendors be given ID cards/ licenses and that they can’t be evicted. Recognition of street vendors is also mandatory under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) scheme of the central government.

Among the 25,000 street vendors who were identified by BBMP staff, only 2,000 ID cars were ready, indicated reports in July.

“Street vendors keep the character of any neighbourhood of the city. Also, street vending is a very important means of livelihoods. Normally, when we think of the economy we think of the big shops, malls but street vendors contribute more to sustainable practices,” observed  Harini Nagendra, Professor of Sustainability at Azim Premji University.

“One thing that studies have shown and also we have seen experientially that street vendors help in keeping security of the city especially in the evenings and nights; places with street vendors are much safer for women,” she pointed out.

Discouraging street vendors will not only disrupt the economy and impact sustainability but also affect the cultural fabric of the city, she added.