International Research Journal of Education and Technology

Street Vendors or Hawkers constitute the most significant and deprived segment of the country which comes under an unorganized and informal sector economy. According to a survey by NASVI in our county India, there are near about 15 Crores of Indian people who are directly or indirectly related to this Street Vendors or Hawkering profession. This profession is a boon to the rural poor for generating ample self-employment with a low cost of investment. Street vendors or hawkers profession is an important segment and backbone for business in Malda district of West Bengal. The main objectives of this research paper are to examine the socio-economic profile, health status and working profile among Street Vendors, to highlight the major problems and challenges faced by Street Vendors and give valuable suggestions for better improvement of the working profile and standard of living among Street vendors. Malda district of West Bengal has been selected as a study area. The study is based on both primary and secondary sources of data. The result of the study shows that 74.84 per cent of respondents are male, 51.81 per cent of respondents age-group are 36-59 years which is the maximum, 56.97 per cent of the respondents are earning daily Rs INR 300-500 daily, 22.42 per cent of respondents are street food seller which is the maximum profession types, 38.48 per cent of respondents are taking this profession due to self-employment, 31.21 per cent of the respondents are facing the problem of threat of evacuation and extortion by local police and local Scoundrels, 32.42 per cent of the respondents are affected in dust allergies. The study also reveals that Prime Minster Street Vendor’s Schemes Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme is not successful in the study area due to the illiterate and unaware about of this scheme. The majorities of the Street vendors is self-independent and generate self-employment which promotes Atmanirbahar Bahart, a part of the new India vision.

Key Words: Street Vendors, Livelihood Opportunity, Informal Economy, Extortion, Self Employment, Poverty,