NASVI holds women vendors’ meet

Harish Rawat,Minister of State for Labour and Employment was the chief guest at the meeting,which also saw ; CPI (M) Politburo Member Brinda Karat; Sandhya Bajaj,Member-NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights); and Barkha Singh (MLA),Chairperson of Delhi Women’s Commission.

Harish Rawat,Minister of State for Labour and Employment,said,“I congratulate and salute all of you for coming together for this cause. Your work is very important for the country since it is associated with common people. You provide everyone with affordable goods at their doorsteps and there isn’t a corner in the country that does not have your services.”

Acknowledging the fact that women vendors faced a much bigger challenge,Rawat said the government is trying to provide a mechanism for social safeguards like insurance and institutional credit,apart from registering street vendors.

“I would like to thank NASVI and we would like to work more closely with NGOs like them,increase interaction and work on the implementation of schemes that are beneficial for all street vendors,especially women vendors and their children,” Rawat added.

Brinda Karat,CPI (M) Politburo Member,said,“When we cannot provide livelihoods we should not snatch it. Street vendors constitute around 2.5% of the country’s population and a huge proportion of this includes women vendors who face harassment and threats to their livelihoods and their children on the streets. The national street vendors’ policy must be implemented immediately,starting in the Capital,to provide adequate safeguards for women street vendors and to put a stop to harassment by the police and others.”

Arbind Singh,Coordinator NASVI,said,“There is a need for collective action against the atrocities suffered by women vendors. Most women vendors are migrants and subjected to harassment from different quarters,their male counterparts,police and municipal authorities.”