Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Oct. 16: Women in the informal trading sector have been street vending to sustain their livelihood and to contribute to their family financially. However, their contribution to this sector has long been unrecognised as such activities by women have been limited.
On the “Wednesday market” day at Supermarket in Dimapur, the pavement can be seen bustling with small town female vendors with garden umbrellas, most of them from Wokha district. These women work hard enduring unpleasant circumstances to earn their livelihood and face several challenges in order to sustain themselves in this trade.
Apeni from Wokha village, a street vendor and a mother of five children, told Eastern Mirror that after spending INR 5000 to 6000 in procuring vegetables from village farmers, she makes a profit of INR 500 to 1000 on Wednesday market in Dimapur.
Kohima, which is nearer to Wokha, is not an option for them as the market there is already full with vendors from the neighbouring villages and few of them from Wokha district, she said. “We run our family with the little income we make in Dimapur, so it is better for us to look for a market that assures us of a little profit than go back home empty handed,” she added.
Apeni said they come in groups, around 10-15 of them, through the Kohima route which is approximately 154 km.
The female vendors leave from Wokha on Tuesday evening by taking lift from a truck, paying INR 1000 each or at times hire a pick-up truck by paying INR 1600-1700 each (inclusive of their goods). On the way, they spent around INR 180-200 for food and INR 200-400 at the check gates, it was informed.
At the market, they pay a tax of INR 30, and the group leave by evening by the Wokha passenger vehicle which cost them INR 450 (per person) and reach their home by 9 pm-11 pm or 12 am depending on the condition of the road.
Wednesday market in Dimapur is the only day that they work. The other days, they said, are spent on looking for vegetables or taking care of their vegetable garden. They make a profit of around INR 1000 to 2000.
Although the journey is tiring, travelling 154 km in the rough roads, which are unpredictable during the monsoon season, the female vendors said that they look forward for Wednesday as it was the only day for them to do business and see their hard work pay off.
Another female vendor, who do not wish to be named, said humorously: “I do not like my name given by my parents who named me after a meaning when my father was in the NNC for 21 years”. In her late 50s, this vendor pointed out that sitting in the pavement in Kohima is not safe because of the narrow road and there are no viable spots for them to do their trade as the market has already been occupied by the daily vendors.
She has been on the streets selling vegetables since the 1970s, she said, adding that she started from Kohima and it has been 15 years in Dimapur market. Although she has been in this trade for 30 years, she did not choose some other trade because of the lack of adequate skills and her insecurity with trying another trade.
Apart from inadequate space, the problem of numerous taxes is another menace for them (vendors), she said. The poor road condition is another obstacle for them, as she pointed out that when the roads are blocked, they are at a loss as most of their vegetables and other commodities are perishable.
A female vendor, during the course of the interview, was seen bargaining with a customer for INR 10 who consequently left without purchasing the vegetable even after it was packed by the vendor. She was heard murmuring that our own Naga community bargains for INR 5-10 but they have no problem purchasing the vegetables sold by the non-Nagas, which are not organic.
The vendors lamented that “they get INR 3 (profit) for green leaves and in addition gives extra to their customers instead of wasting which are not sold”.
According to a “Baseline Survey on Social, Economic and Political Empowerment of Women in Nagaland” by the Nagaland State Commission for Women, “70% of the population derives their livelihood from agriculture. A large number of women in Nagaland are cultivators. A substantial number of them are also engaged in informal trading activities. They comprise the majority of the market stallholders and vendors selling vegetables and indigenous produce. These women are not only independent of their male counterparts, but they are also the major source of support to their families”.
