ABSTRACT
Denial of dignity towards street vendors and street vending as a profession begins with the denial of access to public space. In the absence of legal permission from the civic authorities for occupying space, street vendors face constant threats of harassments and eviction. As a result, their work becomes highly insecure and uncertain. Standing (1999) refers to seven different forms of work-related insecurities, namely, labour market insecurity, employment insecurity, job insecurity, work insecurity, skill reproduction insecurity, income insecurity and representation insecurity. I believe that all these work-related insecurities can lead to livelihood insecurity. This is the larger issue encompassing all other insecurities and uncertainty which are resulting from the way vendors operate their business. In this context, different forms of harassments, eviction, insecurity and uncertainty and how street vendors become vulnerable at the workplace have been focused in this chapter. Additionally, competition at the marketplace and prolonged working hours are presented. Thus long working hours, insecurity and uncertainty and their impacts on their lives have been illustrated in this chapter. There is an acute lack of dignity in their working lives and hence they preferred to hide their ‘occupational identity’ before their friends and relatives. There were a few cases in which acute lack of dignity was noticeable. One vendor (from Mumbai) who had a vending stall in Vile Parle but resided and stored products in Jogeshwari talked about diffi culties of being a female vendor during her daughter’s marriage. Her relatives also stopped contacting when they came to know about her profession. Let us begin discussing the working conditions of street vendors.
