GUWAHATI, April 1 � The women vendors of the city have demanded recognition of their work with an identity proof so that they are saved from the harassment they face frequently from the official agencies.
Despite a national policy and Supreme Court ruling in their favour, the street vendors continue to face harassment from the police, public and civic authorities.
Voicing their grievances at the Women Vendors� Meet organised at Vivekananda Kendra auditorium recently by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) and the Society for Social Transformation and Environment Protection, Pubita Kathar, Jonali Kathar and the other local women vendors demanded an immediate end to police harassment.
�We are not criminals; we are struggling to meet the daily needs of our families. We have been told that there is a policy to protect our rights. We want the government to give us our rights,� said Pubita.
Apart from harassment from police, these women vendors also have to deal with the licentious crowd intent on taking advantage of the vulnerability of these poverty struck women.
As per a survey by the Society for Social Transformation and Environment Protection, Guwahati has a population of around 45,000 street vendors selling commodities as diverse as vegetables, incense sticks, spices, clothes, fish, livestock, grains, dairy products, etc. Around 1,000 women belonging to indigenous communities like Garo, Khasi, Bodo, Rabha, Koch, Karbi, etc., commute regularly to the city with local vegetables and other products.
Lack of protection is another challenge that majority of the women vendors face. The working condition is very pathetic for these women vendors due to lack of basic facilities like drinking water, toilet and cr�ches for their children. Lack of institutional credit is also a problem as they have to borrow from money lenders at high rate of interest.
The meet demanded creation of vending zones as per the national policy for urban street vendors and separate vending space or markets for women vendors.
Legal experts present at the meet, including Jeuti Barooah, director of Law Research Institute, Gauhati HC suggested that there should be an assessment of the needs of these vulnerable women and that the Government should constitute a drafting committee at the earliest to frame State legislation for protection of the street vendors with special reference to women vendors.
