The Regularization of Street Vending in Bhubaneshwar, India: A Policy Model

Before 2007, street vending in Bhubaneshwar, the capital city of Odisha (a state in India), exemplified an over-regulated informal economy. Police and municipal inspectors would persistently harass the vendors by threatening them and confiscating their merchandise. The authorities treated street vendors as illegal entities, encroachers on public space, and a source of unsightly nuisance. This negative approach towards the vendors generated a classic “Conflict Model” case, characterized by distrust and an ongoing tug-of-war between the town authorities and the street vendors. On one side, the town authorities would resort to anti-encroachment drives attempting to contain or eliminate the street vendors. On the other side, the vendors, struggling to safeguard their livelihood, would demonstrate their anger and resentment through massive protests. At times these protests would temporarily allow vendors to continue with their business; however, these strategies were more like fire-fighting or stop-gap arrangements that did not offer a permanent solution (Bhowmik 2001). In Bhubaneshwar, the basic issue of devising a policy framework for regularizing street vending remained unaddressed for a long time. However, the need for an amicable policy was felt by both the town authorities and vendors alike. Both the parties realized that their tug of war benefited no one, and coming up with an enduring solution would require peaceful negotiations through social dialogue. After multiple rounds of brainstorming between the vendors’ organization and town authorities, a conceptual model involving dedicated vending zones was collectively agreed to in December 2006. Under this model, legally sanctioned, aesthetically pleasing fixed kiosks were to be constructed in the vending zones and handed over to the vendors working in the area. Between 2007 and 2009, 52 vending zones were created; as of December 2011, there were 54 vending zones with approximately 2,600 kiosks (Mohapatra 2011). The key ideas behind designing the policy framework were to bring all the relevant stakeholders together for joint planning and then to implement it through partnership among them. Bhubaneshwar thus became among the first cities in India to acknowledge street vendors as an integral part of the city and to regularize them through a complexpublic, private and community partnership model. Bhubaneshwar is among the first cities in India to acknowledge street vendors as an integral part of the city by establishing aesthetically pleasing fixed kiosks in legally sanctioned vending zones.