End of the road for hawkers

End of the road for hawkers

The middle class spends more on purchase from hawkers

Government plans to put an end to hawking, keeping the interest of public in mind

Srikanth Hunasavadi. Bangalore
The New Year has not brought much cheer to the hawkers in Bangalore. Following a high court order, the government seems all set to ban vendors in the city.
The eviction process, which will begin shortly, will see BBMP officials along with the city police carrying out the task.
According to BBMP estimates, there are about 30,000 hawkers in Bangalore and the eviction process would be carried out to ensure better public health and safety.
Of these 30,000, at least 10,000 sell food items by the roadside on the footpaths. This has caused obstruction on footpaths, forcing pedestrians to walk on the roads, increasing chances of road mishaps. There is also the issue of hygiene as the food items sold by the hawkers are often not regulated.
In the city, vendors squat near the main markets like KR Market, RMC Yard in Yeshwantpur, Shivaji Nagar, Malleshwaram, Jayanagra, and Gandhibazar. The city suburbs mostly have mobile vendors who move from place to place with their goods in baskets carried on their heads or bicycles. To prevent roadside vendors mushrooming in the city like in cities like Mumbai, the government is planning to put an end to the hawker menace.
While the government has decided to take such a step keeping the public interest in mind, banning the hawkers might just hit the middle income group.
In Bangalore, this group spends more on purchases from hawkers. According to a study by hawkers' association in Mumbai, the per capita spending on items bought from hawkers by higher income groups is about Rs1,500 per month (on mainly fruits and vegetables). This was cited in the public interest litigation filed in the Karnataka high court against hawking in the city.
The same study pointed out that the middle income group's per capita spending per month on items bought from hawkers amounted to about Rs3,000, while that of the lower income group was about Rs800.