Work Security and Other Challenges for Street Vendors in Guwahati City, Assam

In this article, we scrutinise the everyday challenges for street vendors, the various facets of representation, the everyday practices of civic authorities, and the existing protective measures for street vendors and their implementation in Guwahati City, Assam. Street vendors in Guwahati are deprived of their legal protection and subjected to frequent harassment, eviction and confiscation of merchandise. Vendors are often forced to take refuge in illegal activities like bribery, either cash or kind, to sustain their business. We examine how municipal officials, police and collection intermediaries deal with these illicit and corrupt practices. We also examine the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014 as a means for protecting the rights of the street vendors in India and progress in the implementation of this Act in Guwahati.