ROADSIDE VENDORS- A BLESSING INDISGUISE FOR CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMY TC
Street vending has become unique feature ofdeveloping nations. The street vending is synonymously used as roadside vending. Thedeveloping nations are characterized by low industrial growth, low per capita income, andpredominance of agriculture and limited expansion of formal sector employment. The poorpeople depend upon informal sector. Street vending is one of the livelihood activities indeveloping nations. Street and roadside vending is an economic activity. It consists of a large percentage of ruraland urban dwellers in developing countries. There has been continuous growth of roadsidevendors not only in India but also in the entire world. These roadside vendors are microentrepreneurs. These roadside vendors are characterized by low income group. They act asmiddlemen between small suppliers and small buyers. This provides reciprocal benefits andultimately adds to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Normally, they are indulged n selling thosegoods and services which are made locally.Statement of Problem:Hawking and roadside vending have emerged as one of the critical means of earning livelihood for the urban poor in India due to shrinkage of formal sector and mounting urban migration.Today, vending is bread and butter for urban and rural poor as roadside vending requires relatively low skills and capital investment. The smaller source of income of vendors acts as oxygen to their respiratory problems. The roadside vending does not assure a guaranteed and security of income unlike other government jobs. They do not indulge in begging, stealing or extortion. The roadside vending creates a sense of reliance among the roadside vendors. This fulfills their self-esteem needs.Among the large cities, Mumbai is having largest concentration of 2.5 lakh street vendors which is followed by Kolkata which is having about 2 lakh . The roadside vendors market many goods and services which common people use on regular basis and vegetable vending is traditionally leading the trade. In addition to vegetable and fruit vending, other commodities such as cloths, hosiery household goods and fast food that have no other channels of marketing the products that they produce.
Roadside vendors are normally ignored by urban authorities. In cosmopolitan and metropolitancities, these roadside vendors play a vital role in catering the needs of work force. In Mumbaicity only the work force of entire Mumbai depends on ‘dubbawalas’. In Bengaluru, on theroadside, the dreams of majority people come true. Theses roadside vendors face numerousproblems such as torture by police authorities, space problem, low skills and financialexploitation by moneylenders. The moving population is badly in need of their services. In2004, union government proposed a bill to protect the interest of street and roadside vendors. Asa result of this, a number of modifications took place in local municipal acts. The governmentpassed street vendors protection Act in 2014.