SEWA celebrates International Street Vendors Day

DIMAPUR — The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), Dimapur, observed International Street Vendors’ Day on Thursday at DUDA Hall, Dimapur, on the theme “Decent work and economic growth.”

The event was organised to celebrate the contributions of street vendors worldwide, highlighting their significance in the local economy by providing affordable products and convenience services, an update from SEWA Dimapur stated.

The event began with an introduction on SEWA’s work by Lanu, SSK in-charge-cum-field mobiliser, followed by a presentation by Temjenlemla, state project coordinator of SEWA Nagaland, who shared insights from recent research on the implementation of the Street Vendors Policy in Nagaland. Her presentation specifically focused on the participation of women street vendors in the town vending committee (TVC).

As part of the event, SEWA representatives handed over memorandum to the CEO of Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC), Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dimapur and secretary of Development Authority of Nagaland (DAN).

The memorandum outlined key demands to improve the livelihoods of street vendors. It included activation of the town vending committee (TVC) in order to conduct capacity-building training for committee members in line with the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

It also sought establishment of a grievance redressal committee to address the issues and challenges faced by street vendors and provision of basic amenities such as access to free electricity, drinking water, dedicated women’s washrooms and proper drainage facilities.

The guest of honour and CEO of DMC, Thungchanbemo Tongue, shared his personal experiences of being a door-to-door vendor and encouraged street vendors to work with honesty, transparency and integrity. He also emphasised on a scheme ‘The support to urban street vendors,’ which aims to address the vulnerabilities of urban street vendors.

He concluded by assuring to continue working for the betterment of the street vendors.

Rita Ghosh, a street vendor, briefly highlighted the changing patterns of climate change and its effects on the livelihood of the street vendors, while Kiujimle, a TVC member, shared about the gaps of the town vending committee followed by keynote speaker, Armaan Ali, assistant manager of SBI RBO, Dimapur, who highlighted the importance of financial management and schemes available for street vendors.