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RURAL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS ROLE &CHANGE IN THE SOCIETY: CASE STUDY View project
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Street vendors are an integral part of urban economies around the world, offering easy
access to a wide range of goods and services in public spaces. Even though street vendors
are considered as informal, they are the vital contributors to Urban economies. In this 21st
century most of the people are street vendors. The Informal Economy Monitoring Study
(IEMS) revealed, ways in which street vendors are strengthening their communities: Street
vending plays a major role in employment creation, production, and income generation.
Street vendors are facing many problems in the workplace from the public, police personnel,
politicians and local rowdies. The study investigated their Problems and prospects within the
Visakhapatnam beach region. The government of India (Ministry of Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation) passed the street vendors Bill 2013 in order to improve their standard of
living. Street trade also adds vibrancy to urban life and in many places is considered a
cornerstone of historical and cultural heritage. In this study, the researchers evaluated the
problems faced by street vendors in their workplace and the prospects needed to get
facilitated. The researchers selected 110 respondents from R.K.Beach to Bheemili Beach,
located in Visakhapatnam Corporation by adopting convenient sampling and the study is
descriptive in nature. Interview method was used to collect data. This study aims to find out
the problems faced by the street vendors and prospects needed, in order to protect their
rights and do their street vending business. The paper provides spatial solutions for policy
measures for regulating these informal entrepreneurs.
I. Introduction
An entrepreneur has to function within limits of freedom and has to choose from limited
opportunity. Key element of successful entrepreneurship is to make prudent choices from
those available, and act upon the choices incrementally (not at one go) at various stages of
development of the business, these choices are neither fully subject to environmental forces,
nor to the absolute free will of the entrepreneur alone (Ray and Ramchandra, 1996).
Every entrepreneur has to accept and deal with problems as an on-going process, for no
matter how hard he/she tries sooner than later problems catch up with him/her. Problems to a
large measure may arise due to procedural wrangles, or objective feeling of some difficulty,
or an inability to meet certain commitments, and the perfection desired. Very often in a street
vendor it is difficult to separate the entrepreneur from his/her business, especially the
problems, as to whether it is the problem of the business or the individual. The problem may
be related to a person, an object, an event or a procedure. Some problems are internal i.e.
within the business unit which arise due to the internal environment of the business, and some
problems are caused by external factors. The former is easier to deal with than the latter.
The number and extent of problems a business faces differs from business to business, time to
time and place to place. Some problems may be common to all and some may be subject
specific, related only to the particular enterprise or its owner. Whatever be the problem there
is no readymade formula to deal with it. The efficiency with which an entrepreneur deals with
problems decides how successful the entrepreneur is (Singh A.P. 1989). Handling customer
problems depending on the severity, entrepreneurs must take responsibility for the problem
and handle the more delicate and difficult problems themselves, especially the ones
concerning customers. When things go wrong customers expect to hear from the owner and
not from the hired help. Delegating at this juncture might make things worse.
It is better to meet the complainant personally, than trying to solve the problem over the
phone (depending on the value of the customer). This has two advantages, it underscores the
great concern of the entrepreneur and reveals how extraordinary the circumstances are, and
the time it takes for the meeting to take place gives everybody a chance to cool down and
consider realistic solutions. The entrepreneur must use his negotiating skills to the hilt and
appear willing to be able to make the situation right, even at a substantial sacrifice to his
business. The safest tactics is to ask the customer what he or she thinks is fair demands, then
turn out to be reasonable (Gordon, B.Baty (2000). Giving short run concessions may prove
profitable in the long run. Helps solidify the loyalty of the customer by manifesting integrity
and desire to make the situation right.
Poverty and lack of gainful employment in the rural areas and in the smaller towns drive
large numbers of people to the cities for work and livelihood. These people generally possess
low skills and lack the level of education required for the better paid jobs in the organized
sector. Besides, permanent protected jobs in the organized sector are shrinking hence even
those having the requisite skills are unable to find proper employment. For these people work
in the informal sector are the only means for their survival.
In most Indian cities, the majority of urban poor survive by working in the informal sector
(Sekhar H.R.). This has led to a rapid growth of the informal sector in most of the larger
cities. The informal sector represents an important part of the economy and the labour market
in many countries, especially in developing countries, plays a major role in employment
creation, production, and income generation (Kolli, R. 2011).
It is estimated that more than two thirds of total employment and more than one third of the
total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the non-agricultural sector in Asia (Adhikari, D. B.,
2011). Looking at the employment status, most of the migrated unskilled workforce engages
themselves in labor in industries; construction and providing different forth class services to
urban households, street vendors, domestic workers, rug pickers (Widiyastuti, D. 2013).
For the urban poor, street vending is one of the major means of earning a livelihood, as it
enquires minor low initial investment requirement and efforts in searching a job and the skills
involved are low.
The Informal Economy Monitoring Study (IEMS) evaluates the realities that informal
workers face. Qualitative and quantitative research methods together have provided an in-
depth understanding of how street vendors are affected by economic trends, urban policies
and practices, value chain dynamics, and other economic and social forces.
The study also examines contributions made by urban informal workers, their linkages to the
formal economy, and whether governments, institutions, and membership-based
organizations help or hinder their livelihoods and lives.
The street vendors spend nearly 10 hours a day in their business. Most of them take up to 5
hours every day for preparations. It includes visit to the wholesale markets for vegetable
vendors, thereby later sorting and cleaning the vegetables. During their working time vendors
are facing many problems from the public and police personnel. They are not protected from
the harmful weather conditions like heat, rain, dust and lack of storage facilities. Those
people selling non-perishable household articles too have to go to the wholesale market to
procure their goods at lower prices. Taking into account both preparation time and the time
for selling we find that at an average a street vendor spends up to 15 hours every day in his or
her activities in order to earn a hundred or two hundred rupees (CUE report, 2014)
Uncertainty of site allocation make street vendors difficult in pushing vending carts from one
place to another on damaged roads. Street vendors also face problems of lack of shelters and
storage space (Kurniawati, W. 2012). The street vendors lead a very difficult life.
The mode of their travel and working hours, it provides hardly any time for rest and
for relaxation, which creates adverse effects on their health.
Increased traffic affects their mobility on main street.
Pollution is affecting them in many ways, road widening also effect of street vendors.
Harassment from local authorities or from policemen during vending.
Uncertainty and insecurity are the basic problem of vendors as their profession is
considered illegal.
Vendors are not protected by government, NGO’s, labour union by any labour laws.
They are insecure due to their low income, irregular employment and their sale
fluctuation.
They are not getting easy financial assistance from bank due to their low income and
fluctuation in income.
Vendors needs some market amenities such as water toilet, storage or shades, waste
disposal.
(Karthikeyan, R., & Mangaleswaran, R., 2013) They have long hour of work without rest and
lack of urban amenities. Climate adds to their woes through rain, searing heat and chilly
winter’s blustery weather by goods damage and extra peripherals requirement (Jacques
Charmes, 2002; Widiy astuti, D., 2013). Most of these problems are result of non-
consideration of street vendors while planning urban streets or land-use planning. So, this
work looks into socio-economic condition of the street vendors for developing a strategy
targeting various issues and challenges faced by for its inclusion into formal planning process
of urban transportation infrastructure and land use with objectives to analyze the existing
concentration, working condition, socio-economic profile of informal shopping street vendors
and suggest the strategies for inclusion of street vendors during formal urban planning
process targeting various issues and challenges faced by street vendors.
The average earnings of street vendors are low - ranging between 40 and 80 rupees per day.
They work under grueling conditions for long hours and are frequently harassed by the
municipal authorities and the police. A large part of the vendors’ income goes in bribes and
‘protection money’. Sharit Bhowmik quotes the study on street vendors to estimate that the
vendors pay between 10 to 20% of their earnings as rent.
Street vendors are often those who are unable to get regular jobs in the remunerative formal
sector on account of their low level of education and skills. They try to solve their livelihoods
problems through their own meagre financial resource. They are the main distribution
channel for a large variety of products of our daily consumption. Street Vendors faces many
problems as they are vulnerable population, who are neither protected by government, NGOs,
labour union nor by any labour law. They are deprived by laws made by government in
respect of labour union. The street vendors always suffer competition with other street
vendors because of fluctuation in market prices, insecure and irregular employment. Their
incomes are often minimal and their sales fluctuate.
Another reason for decrease in income of street vendors is that they are forced to pay 15 to 20
percent of their daily income as bribes to local police. Street vendors are usually associated
with encroachment of public spaces, causes traffic congestion, inadequate hygiene, and poor
waste disposal. Safety of food has been increasingly become a concern in regard to street
vendors. The basic problems of street vendors are insecurity and uncertainty as their
profession is considered illegal, but according to government of India assessment done in
2004 shows around 2.5 per cent of local poor urban population survive by working in this
occupation. If government provide license to street vendors, they can be protected by
harassment and eviction by local authorities and local police.
Vending has been a profession since time immemorial, with street vendors an integral part of
our urban history and culture. Shopping and marketing, in a traditional Indian sense, has
primarily been informal. Social interaction is integral to Indian markets in contrast to the
mechanized and sterile concept of shopping favored by modern market and super market
structures. The vendors have to deal with multiple authorities – the municipal corporation,
police (thana as well as traffic), regional development authorities, district administration,
local panchayats and so on. This leads to exploitation and extortion. In many cases the
positive steps taken by one authority are nullified by the actions of others. Vendors belong to
the business community; every customer is critical and each day is important. This deters the
formation of effective and strong organizations as vendors participate only when threatened
with eviction. Otherwise they prefer to handle localised problems by shifting the stall a meter
or two or by bribing the police and other authorities. Given half a chance, they would rather
negotiate and settle the matter individually. Only when it is a problem faced by many do the
unions intercede as it is cheaper and less time consuming.
Keeping all the above information in view an attempt was made to identify the problems
faced by the street vendors in Visakhapatnam City. And analyses the data to understand the
problems those are exceedingly impacting the street vending operations. The results of the
study may be helpful for the policy makers to frame the right kind of policies to protect the
interests of the street vendors.
Questionnaire:
the problems faced by the street vendors. It mainly consists of the questions with multiple-
choice answers.
Data Collection:
The data was collected by administering a questionnaire to the targeted population. For this
purpose, the researcher has contacted the respondents in person to collect the primary data.
To ascertain the problems faced by the street vendors, personal discussions were held
separately with them. In addition to this, secondary data was also collected from Andhra
university library, DCMS library and various articles from the internet.
Sampling Technique:
As the data collection is not possible from the entire population of Visakhapatnam city owing
to the limited resources and time, Beach Road Area has been selected, since a large number
of the street vendors are performing their business activity at this place. Enough care was
taken to obtain information representing the characteristics of the population following a
simple random sampling technique.
Sample Size:
As per the records of GVMC, street vendors are found in different parts of the city. The
geographical spread is very wide and their vending activities are very diverse. If Beach Road
Area is taken, the population of the street vendors is estimated to be 1125 as per the
municipal records. Hence a sample size of 10 per cent is taken which comes to 110. A sample
size of 110 street vendors spread over the Beach area covering around 24 KM. from Fishing
harbor to Bheemili has been covered in the study.
The data collected in the study has been categories into six categories based on the street
vending operations. Highest number of respondents are into food products business followed
by entertainment business.
Category of Number of
Percentage
Vending Activates Respondents
Food Products 44 40.0
Entertainment 23 20.9
Sea Pearl Products 14 12.7
Toys & Balloons 11 10.0
Health Products 12 10.9
Miscellaneous 6 5.5
Total 110 100
Analysis of Data:
The analysis of data collected has been done with utmost care to give the findings as much
authenticity as possible. The data collected from the respondents to all the questions has been
entered into the computer using SPSS software. The primary data was tabulated and
calculated the percentages for each category. Pearson Chi-square test has been adopted for
testing the hypothesis formed in the study area.
This section deals with the opinion of street vendors in Visakhapatnam towards the problems
and prospects of Informal entrepreneurs. The problems faced by street vendors on their
business vary from person to person. The level of opinion of the street vendors is meant to
indicate the extent to which the problem has been faced by them. During the survey, the street
vendors are asked to give their opinion about the problems and prospects of street vending
business. The level of perception is determined by the score value calculated for 10
statements which are related to the problems faced by street vendors.
Chi-
S. Significant Table Hypothesis
Statement of Hypothesis square Significance
No. Value (P) Value Result
Value
There is no significant
impact of storage
1 problem for unsold goods 16.302 0.3623 24.99 Accepted Insignificant
on street vending
operations.
There is no significant
impact of financial and
2 20.035, 0.1706 24.99 Accepted Insignificant
economic problems on
street vending operations.
There is no significant
impact of Marketing
3 11.138 0.7427 31.41 Accepted Insignificant
problems on street
vending operations.
There is no significant
impact of Environmental
4 8.358 0.9086 24.99 Accepted Insignificant
problems on street
vending operations.
There is no significant
impact of Social security
5 5.252 0.9898 24.99 Accepted Insignificant
problems on street
vending operations.
There is no significant
impact of People related
6 8.245 0.9136 24.99 Accepted Insignificant
problems on street
vending operations.
There is no significant
impact of awareness
7 about street vending 3.731, 0.5888 11.07 Accepted Insignificant
policy on street vending
operations.
There is no significant
8 impact of Expectations 22.445 0.3169 31.41 Accepted Insignificant
from the Government on
Discussion:
H1: It discusses the impact of the storage space for unsold goods on the street vending
operations. The calculated Chi-square value is 16.302, which is less than the table value of
24.99 at 15 degrees of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. So, it can be inferred
that there is no significant impact of storage space for unsold goods on the street vending
operations.
H2: It discusses the impact of financial and economic problems on street vending operations.
The calculated Chi-square value is 20.035, which is less than the table value of 24.99 at 15
degrees of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. So, it can be inferred that there is
no significant impact of financial and economic problems on the street vending operations.
H3: It discusses the impact of marketing problems on street vending operations. The
calculated Chi-square value is 11.138, which is less than the table value of 31.41 at 20
degrees of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. So, it can be inferred that there is
no significant impact of marketing problems on the street vending operations.
H4: It discusses the impact of environmental problems on street vending operations. The
calculated Chi-square value is 8.358, which is less than the table value of 24.99 at 15 degrees
of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. So, it can be inferred that there is no
significant impact of environmental problems on the street vending operations.
H5: It discusses the impact of Social security problems on street vending operations. The
calculated Chi-square value is 5.252, which is less than the table value of 24.99 at 15 degrees
of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. So, it can be inferred that there is no
significant impact of Social security problems on the street vending operations.
H6: It discusses the impact of people related problems on street vending operations. The
calculated Chi-square value is 8.245, which is less than the table value of 24.99 at 15 degrees
of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. So, it can be inferred that there is no
significant impact of people related problems on the street vending operations.
H7: It discusses the impact of awareness about street vending policy on street vending
operations. The calculated Chi-square value is 3.731, which is less than the table value of
11.07 at 5 degrees of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. So, it can be inferred
that there is no significant impact of awareness about street vending policy on street vending
operations.
H8: It discusses the impact of expectations from the government on street vending operations.
The calculated Chi-square value is 22.445, which is less than the table value of 31.41 at 20
degrees of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted. So, it can be inferred that there is
no significant impact of expectations from the government on the street vending operations.
H9: It discusses the impact of expectations from the customer on street vending operations.
The calculated Chi-square value is 39.801, which is greater than the table value of 37.65 at 25
degrees of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is rejected. So, it can be inferred that there is a
significant impact of expectations from the customer on street vending operations.
H10: It discusses the impact of facilities needed for street vendors on street vending
operations. The calculated Chi-square value is 63.810, which is greater than the table value of
31.41 at 20 degrees of freedom. Hence the null hypothesis is rejected. So, it can be inferred
that there is a significant impact of expectations from the customer on street vending
operations.
Conclusion:
Street vendors are an important part of the informal sector not only because of their numbers
but because of crucial roles they play in preserving their sector. Moreover, a significant
amount of goods produced by small industrial units in the informal sector is marketed
through them. The street vendors contributions are unfortunately hardly ever recognized by
the government. Instead the government is more often than not hostile to them. This is a
result of a broader issue concerning the informal sector as a whole. In most Asian countries
the informal sector is very large and it constitutes the mainstay of the economy.
The objective of this paper is to identify the causes behind street vending, challenges faced by
street vendors, highlight the importance of street vendors, what measures are taken by the
Government to prevent the harassment of street vendors by various authorities, improvement
in the working conditions, social protection and life skill development to improve the level of
profitability. Government provides street vending policies for street vendors; however, the
street vendors are not aware of such policies. This study reveals that the best way for the
planners to address this issue is to formalize the street vendors by issuing licenses. This will
go a long way in giving these workers a space within the legal framework, as well as easing
the regulation of street vendors for the government itself.
In conclusion it can be said that though India has witnessed an increased in street vendors, the
government is indifferent to specific needs of this sector. Street vendors perform an important
role in providing services to the urban population especially the poor. Street vending and
petty trading activities from the essential core of informal economic sectors in developing
nations help in generating income with minimized investments of financial capital and
without requiring large human capital.
REFERENCES
1. Ray, S. and K Ramchndran. (1996). Towards a framework for a Comprehensive Theory of
Entrepreneurship. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Vol. 5, Sage Publicaiotn, New Delhi. Pg.1-
22.
2. Singh A.P. (1989). Small Scale Entrepreneur: Problems and prospects in (Ed.)
Entrepreneurship Development in India; Uddin S. Mittal Publication, New Delhi, pp.73-80.
3. Gordon, B.Baty. (2000). Entrepreneurship for the Nineties” Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey. Pp.5-257
4. Kolli, R. (2011). Measuring the Informal Economy: Case Study of India;
5. Adhikari, D. B. (2011). Income generation in informal sector: A case study of the street
vendors of Kathmandu metropolitan city. Economic Journal of Development Issues, 13-14(1-
2),1-14.
6. Sekar, H. R. Insecurities and Vulnerabilities of Informal Sector Vendors with Special Focus
on Street Vending Children of NOIDA;
7. Widiyastuti, D. (2013). Transformation of public space: social and spatial changes (Doctoral
dissertation);
8. Sharit K.Bhowmik, Hawkers in the Urban Informal Sector: A Study of Street Vendors in Six
Cities, National Alliance of Street Vendors of India, 2000.
ANNEXURE
Table - 1: Storage of Unsold Goods Problems faced by Street Vendors
Food Enterta Sea Pearl Toys & Health Miscell
Particulars Total
Products inment Products Balloons Products aneous
23 12 7 6 7 2 57
At Home
(52.3) (52.2) (50.0) (54.5) (58.3) (33.3) (51.8)
At Vending 12 9 4 2 1 - 28
Place (27.3) (39.1) (28.6) (18.2) (8.3) (25.5)
At Neighbor's 5 1 1 - 2 - 9
Place (11.4) (4.3) (7.1) (16.7) (8.2)
4 1 2 3 2 4 16
Cold Storages
(9.1) (4.3) (14.3) (27.3) (16.7) (66.7) (14.5)
44 23 14 11 12 6 110
Total
(100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0)
2
χ 16.302
P 0.3623
Table Value 24.99
Result Hypothesis Accepted and insignificant
44 23 14 11 12 6 110
Total
(100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0)
2
χ 20.035,
P 0.1706
Table Value 24.99
Result Hypothesis Accepted and insignificant
2
χ 8.358
P 0.9086
Table Value 24.99
Result Hypothesis Accepted and insignificant
Table – 10: Facilities needed to get supported / protected for Street vending operations