New Delhi, April 15 (KNN) Joining the call to fight against COVID -19, National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) has been engaging with State Governments and Municipal Bodies to ensure supply of vegetables and fruits while maintaining Social Distancing and personal precautions.

National Coordinator of NASVI Arbind singh said  “We appreciate the advisory issued by the Ministry of Urban Affairs to State Government,   but most of the urban street vendors are badly affected has hardly 10 percent are able to vend and 90 percent of are facing challenges to life and livelihoods.”

NASVI has request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri to ensure few minimum things while finalizing the guidelines.

Most of the Municipal Corporation has given a verbal direction to do vending in the colonies but the local Police do not allow them to vend. So every Municipal Body should issue a proper pass or allow all the surveyed vendors having ID card or the Slip of Survey, demanded NASVI.

Street Food vendors who are trained or registered in any way by FSSAI, RPL, NSDC and others, should also be allowed  to serve fresh cooked food or any other dry food in the streets and colonies  with proper pass or certificate, the association for street vendors proposed.

NASVI sought for a clear direction to Police to not to stop or interfere in street vending,   once they have the passes or any direction by district magistrate or Municipal Bodies.

The street vendors should be provided with essential food requirements for three months through temporary ration cards issued by the district administration and municipal points in urban areas and municipal bodies, NASVI suggested.

They demanded that all street vendors registered with the Municipal Bodies or surveyed by the Municipal Bodies should be given Rs 10,000 Cash Transfer under Self Employed Program. Kindly utilize NULM funds which have been lying idle with State Governments and Municipal Corporations and Municipalities.

Street vendors are the back bone of urban area and real warriors who help the society and government to continue the supply chain in Covid-19 pandemic; hence they should also provide some protective cares, the association said.  (KNN Bureau)