I work in an industrial estate where a lot of factories and companies are stacked next to each other. Ranging from factory workers and tailors to customer representatives, software developers and management professionals- people with very varied pay scales call this place their professional home. Inspite of the high diversity in payscales and collar colors, almost everyone working in here has one thing in common - street food.

Every evening, almost everyone gathers at one or the other intersections that are dotted with street vendors and rediwallahs. These intersections are filled with the smell of fried food, tea, fruit juices, paranthas, omelettes and the sound of water-cooler banter. It is a daily pilgrimage to go to this intersection; a much needed break from the air-conditioned quietude work.

Over the course of time, we became good friends with Badal (name changed) - one of the rediwallahs. Badal owned a fresh-fruit-juice stall. He was quite bubbly and enthusiastic most of the times and would greet us with great gusto every evening. Everyday, Badal would preemptively start to prepare our usual drink when he saw us approaching from far away.

Our daily evening interactions and some latent thoughts on micro-entrepreneurship inspired me to explore how his business can be expanded. More specifically, can basic things such as bookkeeping and business ethics help him (and others like him) to make their businesses more profitable and scalable? We tried one of our ideas with Badal but he wasn’t all that excited about it and it fizzled out. However, as time passed, Badal and I grew became better acquainted with each other. It became a daily ritual to visit his redi and have some fresh fruit juice.

One evening, my friend and I reached his redi- only to find it gone. There was an eerie silence enveloping the place. Cars were parked in the spots where redis used to be parked. It was hard to believe that the commotion, the redis, the snacks and the laughters had actually transpired here. There was no one in sight. We looked around in dismay – and saw Badal and his friends sitting on the footpath in the corner. They were having an animated discussion. We went to Badal and inquired over what happened.

“The Municipality came. They confiscated the stalls along with our goods.”

“Will you get it back?”

“Yes, yes. Not an issue.”

He seemed completely nonchalant about it. He wasn’t worried at all. It was as if this was a day to day activity. He was really confident that he will get his redi back tomorrow.

Over the next few days, redis and food stalls started lining up again. Some got their redis back and some bought new ones. Badal would come to the intersection everyday and chitter-chatter with his friends.

In the meantime, I decided to revisit a bill which I had stumbled upon during my initial research into micro-entrepreneurship to help Badal. The bill is named “The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act”, 2014.

It’s byline reads as follows-

An Act to protect the rights of urban street vendors and to regulate street vending activities and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

I’ve copied one of the sections from the bill here:

(1) 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.

(2) The Town Vending Committee shall ensure that all existing street vendors, identified in the survey, are accommodated in the vending zones subject to a norm conforming to two and half percent of the population of the ward or zone or town or city, as the case may be, in accordance with the plan for street vending and the holding capacity of the vending zones.

(3) No street vendor shall be evicted or, as the case may be, relocated till the survey specified under sub-section (1) has been completed and the certificate of vending is issued to all street vendors.

Source: http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Recent%20Acts/Street%20Vendors%20%20Act,%202014.pdf

Point number 3 is what struck me the most. Unless the street vendor has been surveyed and issued a certificate and a designated zone to vend, he can’t be evicted or his/her goods can’t be confiscated. The onus is on the municipalities to act first.

Next day, we again went to the intersection and found Badal loitering around. I asked him whether they had had been issued a certificate or had been surveyed by the government? The answer was no. I tried to explain him that there is a law in the constitution which prohibits confiscation of goods by the municipality until the vendors had been surveyed and designated safe areas to vend. He wasn’t even slightly interested. He was indifferent. He told me not to worry so much and that he will get his redi back. I don’t know what the source of his conviction was, because apparently everyone else was back to business but him. I tried to argue with him that even if he gets his redi back the absence of business and loss of goods is costing him money right now. It was almost as if he had accepted it as an occupational hazard. I asked him if he would be okay if I approached an NGO which works for vendors and the implementation of the act. He was quite hesitant and kept telling me it isn’t a big deal. He told me that they were suspicious that the neighbouring IT Services MNC had complained to the authorities because the vendors cut business of their internal cafeterias and because the vendors crowded the intersection. To be fair, in all, the vendors probably only took the space of 4-5 cars. But it was still believable.

Later that day, I noticed that the shed where the authorities put the confiscated redis was visible from my company’s terrace. It had literally hundreds of redis stacked and crushed against each other. Hundreds! I was beginning to get scared. This seemed like a much bigger nexus. Earlier, my colleague had mentioned how there is also redi mafia, which sell and rent out redis, food stalls and other goods to these people. What if this is a nexus between the authorities and mafia to create a constant demand for redis? I was and still am scared about getting involved in this. I could write a few emails and ask for help and forget about this, but what if Badal faced the the angry and vengeful consequences of this? It just didn’t feel right. Yes, Badal was hesitant to seek help. But so was I. I was scared. I remember having a strong headache that day. Why are we so scared to do the right thing? My colleague and I asked each other. Why were we so scared to invoke the laws?

But the problem was more deeper than this. The more I thought about this the more complicated it got. I tried to play different scenarios in my head. Right now there was this equilibrium in place, between the street vendors, the authorities, the mafia and the nearby businesses.

It’s an industrially zoned place, I am not sure what the TVC’s stance will be on this. In the case the survey happens, will the vendors be allowed to stay here legally or he/she would be asked to move to a different designated zone? Where will the designated zone be? Will it be some far off place? Will the designated zone be misused as a punishment? Atleast at present the vendors get to vend here untouched for 4-5 months at a stretch till the the authorities suddenly decide to confiscate their goods. This is a very profitable zone to vend, there aren’t any restaurants in the entire area and most offices don’t have an internal pantry. Chai, cigarettes, cheap eatables are staple for most workers here. What is the risk appetite of vendors? Can the stomach the constant threats? Or it just lets them get by with their livelihood - can they accumulate wealth in these conditions?

Another demanding question here is, what really is the motive of the authorities? Every time they confiscate and clear the intersection, it only takes about a week for the redis to pile back and they don’t seem to care for another few months. What then is their motive? Are they simply acting under the pressure of the MNCs or the redi mafia? Because decongesting the street doesn’t seem to be their highest priority, not in this city. The only minor profit they seem to get are the minor or major bribes paid by the street vendors to free their goods. Even the cafeteria doesn’t seem to benefit from this situation long enough nor do the CEOs looking for parking spots. But they are trying and if hurting their source of problem financially and causing it inconvenience seems to placate their misery, then it’s maybe paying off. The only party then which seems to benefit from this in a significant manner is the hypothetical redi mafia. For confiscation creates a direct demand and sudden mass shortage of redis.

So what if the situation right now is the most optimum solution for the street vendors?

Ofcourse, the ideal solution would be that this intersection and the industrial zone at large gets a few areas marked as designated vending zones. Seeing the number of low earning professionals working in the industries which would benefit from these vendors on a daily basis, I think it stands a decent chance. That way the street vendors can also get a chance at wealth creation and be done with the occasional setbacks.

Ofcourse in the interim period when the rules are being drafted and the case is taken to court, will the street vendors be temporarily displaced? How long can they sustain?

I decided to write an email to one of the NGOs that I stumbled upon while researching about the bill. I described the entire circumstance and my concern about Badal’s safety. They’ve put me in touch with their local leader and we’ve had a talk on the phone in which I described the situation again. He said one possible outcome is that they will be moved to a different designated area but also assured me that the vendor’s have never lost a case in court. He told me the least I could do is print some documents he would share with me and give it to the vendors. I agreed.

Later that day I met Badal again. He had got his redi back from the authorities some time back but wasn’t using it anymore. He had got a new motor-based sugarcane juicer. It was quite an upgrade and he was working later than usual. I told him about the update with the NGO. This time he more strongly voiced his concern. He said he doesn’t want to be targeted. He doesn’t want to lose his goods again. He is fine with the status quo. And I am starting to believe, he is right.

PS.

Things I need to follow up on: Read the bill thoroughly to see what it says about designated zones and are their any guiding principles behind them? See if the equilibrium can be portrayed as a game theoretic payoff matrix.

Equilibrium