Babu, a street vendor, at Vijayanagar has been running from pillar to post to avail himself of healthcare benefits under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), a national health insurance scheme for unorganised workers.
Though, the RSBY includes street vendors, as one of the 11 sectors of unorganised workers covered under the scheme, street vendors in the city are unable to avail themselves of its benefits.
“Every time I go to the Health Department office to seek health card under the scheme, they ask for proof of me being a genuine street vendor. Lack of an ID card for us from the civic body has effectively denied us benefits. Auto drivers, railway porters, even construction workers registered with the welfare board are availing of this facility. But not street vendors,” Mr. Babu said.
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A survey and issuing of ID cards to street vendors by the BBMP, which has now been taken up, will put an end to this and help the community avail of benefits. Mr. Babu said that while the survey was welcome, ID cards should not be used to deny them vending rights.
“The ID cards should be used for availing of benefits alone. A street vendor without an ID card should not be evicted from his spot,” said Rangaswamy, a street vendor from Gandhinagar.
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The BBMP is also maintaining that the survey was being carried out under the National Urban Livelihood Mission, to provide benefits to street vendors. M. Shivaraju, chairman, Standing Committee on Taxation and Finance, said that Rs. 2 crore had been set aside for the welfare of street vendors in the BBMP budget, and the survey was being done to utilise it.
He, however, was non-committal on creation of vending zones.