Street food vendors turn to selling vegetables in Delhi

New Delhi: Chained to a pole, Shyam Sunder’s food cart has been parked outside his house in Sanjay Colony near Okhla Industrial Area for five days now.

New Delhi: Chained to a pole, Shyam Sunder’s food cart has been parked outside his house in Sanjay Colony near Okhla Industrial Area for five days now.

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He has been forced to dip into his already meagre savings to feed his family of 10.

The 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to contain the spread of Covid-19 has him worried. “I don’t have enough savings to support my family for 21 days. I’ll either have to look for an alternative, or borrow money from friends and family,” said Sunder, a street food vendor registered with the government under the Food Safety Act.

With the Delhi government making efforts to provide food to homeless and underprivileged people during this crisis, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) has written to the Aam Aadmi Party-led government to allow registered street food vendors to operate during the lockdown.

Arbind Singh, national coordinator, NASVI, said, “Street food vendors can help the government provide cooked meals to those who need it most at this time, which will help them earn their livelihood. We have written to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, and asked that registered street vendors be allowed to operate.”

A senior Delhi government official said, “Food vendors are not barred from operating. They have to deliver food though, as serving food is not allowed. Vendors are not working because there is no demand right now. The foremost priority is to contain the spread of this contagious disease. The government is taking all measures to provide food to people in need.”

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Kejriwal on Thursday asked Delhi Police commissioner SN Shrivastava to allow vegetable vendors to operate without e-passes, a senior Delhi government official said.

The Delhi government had announced, earlier this week, it would issue e-passes to those delivering essential services within and outside city limits. The passes are to be issued to those working with these services — which are exempt from restrictions during the lockdown — who do not have formal identity cards.

Singh said, “There is a lot of confusion about whether street food vendors can operate or not. The government should clarify.”

There are nearly two lakh street vendors in the city, and around 25,000-30,000 street food vendors are registered with the government, Singh said.

With only essential services allowed during the lockdown, a large number of street vendors are now turning to selling vegetable and fruits to sustain their families.

Satish Kumar (48), who usually sells handbags in Karol Bagh, said he is now arranging a cart to sell vegetables. Kumar said vendors in Karol Bagh, one of the busiest markets in Delhi, had been suffering for the past eight months, and that the lockdown had only added to their misery.

Several vendors were evicted when the North Delhi Municipal Corporation implemented its plan to pedestrianise Ajmal Khan Road in the neighbourhood.

Kumar, one of the many vendors who were removed, said, “We have been struggling to make ends meet for the past seven or eight months. After a lot of effort, we recently managed to arrange permission to put up our stalls for two to three hours in the market. Now, I’m planning to sell vegetables or fruits to meet my daily expenses,” he said.

In the otherwise busy Karol Bagh market, the roads are deserted and pavements dotted with goods owned by street vendors packed in blue or yellow plastic sheets.

The situation is mirrored throughout a usually bustling national capital coming to terms with staying indoors.

Ramji, a street vendor who sells jackets, has not left the market since the Janta curfew on Sunday. While he has decided to guard his goods by staying in the market, others in the area are paying security guards who man the big showrooms in the area to look after their wares.

“Each vendor usually pays guards Rs 200-400 to take care of their goods at night. But we need to safeguard our goods during the day as well now, and we don’t know how to arrange for that extra money,” Ramji said.