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Street vendors have been in existence since ancient times. In all civilisations,
ancient and medieval, one reads accounts of travelling merchants who not only
sold their wares in the town by going from house to house but they also traded
in neighbouring countries.
Urbanisation is one of the major characteristics of economic
development. With the gradual growth of the economy, the process of
urbanisation depends on the shift of surplus population from rural to urban areas
along-with the growth of some industrialised urban centres. Due to social and
economic pressures, people from backward villages move towards urbanised
centres in search of jobs, where newly established industries and ancillary
activities continuously offer job opportunities to those people migrating to the
cities in India.
An increasing trend towards urbanisation has been recorded from the
very beginning of this present century. The census data on the rural-urban
composition reveal a continuous rise in the rate of urbanisation in India and
more particularly during the second half of the present 21st century.
The proportion of urban population to total population which was only 11 per
cent in 1911 slowly increased to 11.3 per cent in 1921 and then gradually rose
to 14 per cent in 1941 to 28.53 percent in 2017.
In the era of globalisation, the retail sector is the fastest growing emerging
sector after agriculture in India in terms of providing employment. However,
besides formal retail chain, small retailing including street vending has been one
of the easiest ways to survive for working poor in the urban informal sector.
There has been a phenomenal increase in the number of street vendors
leading to an increase in the number of workers in the informal sector. In
current Indian labour market scenario, a magnitude of labour force comprising
around 92 percent derives their livelihood from the informal sector.
The informal sector represents an important part of the economy and the labour
market in many countries, especially in a developing country like India. It plays
a major role in employment creation, production and income generation.
Vendors tend to sell goods produced by someone else or goods produced
by themselves. Since they tend to sell local items, they contribute to the local
economy.
Vendors are an important link between the rural farmers and their urban
customers. they buy local products and make them available throughout the
city, thereby increasing sales, which benefits the producers of the goods as well
as the vendors. Government legalizes these vending units which in turn brings
revenue as licensing fees and taxes, thus directly contributing to the economy.
(3) It does not have fixed wages or fixed hours of work and mostly relies on
daily earnings
With the educational level, being generally low among the street
vendors they are often seen to fall into a debt trap, since they have no access
to credit from the formal financial institutions. In order to survive they borrow
money from other sources at an exceptional high rate of interest. Child labour
is another issue prevalent in India, with children above the age group of 10
sometimes even lower are sent to work in the streets to support their families.
(Protection and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014 the problems of street
vendors are starting to get sorted reassuring their civil liberties.
(The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education) Act 2009 mandates
every child up to the age of 14 years is entitled to free education .
The following project report is based on street vendors that are primarily based
in Siliguri region, also known as the "gateway of North East India" expanding
to a size around 41.9 km is the main commercial city of North Bengal,
surrounded by tea gardens its importance comes due to its strategic placement
near international and state borders. It is a melting pot of cultures as majority of
its population are immigrants of different backgrounds.
The vendors of Siliguri cater to not just one ethnic group but many from
all over the country. Effects of which can be directly seen on the local fast food
and apparel market. Due to the diverse culture vendors have to accommodate
to the diverse taste and make quick entrepreneurial decisions about what would
match the local taste.