Monday, June 28, 2010

Press Release - "New Look for Street Food " The Telegraph 28 Jun 2010


New look for street food
Ranchi, June 27: It is no ordinary business plan. Conceptualised by IIT Bangalore alumnus Tanishk Shyamya, it aims to improve the lot of hawkers who eke out a living selling food on the roadside and for the millions who survive on that fare on a daily basis.
Today, Union food processing minister Subodh Kant Sahay inaugurated 27 specially designed pushcarts built according to Shyamya’s concept. Designed by her IITian friends and manufactured by city-based Sobhna Enterprises, with financial assistance from the Argora branch of Punjab National Bank, the pushcarts are everything that street food stalls till now were not.
Brightly painted and covered in thick glass and wood, the carts leave little scope for dirt or germs to come in contact with the food items on sale.
Neatly segregated sections keep the waste well away from the prepared food and condiments. A waterproof shade protects the food from the elements.

In step with the look of the carts, the hawkers too are turned out neatly. Trained by Streets India, a trust run by Shyamya for vendors from an office in Argora, the vendors could pass off as chefs in any upmarket restaurant in their white outfit and cap. To drive home the clean message, a pair of gloves completes the look.

Streets India is a social initiative which aims to develop the concept of organised vending, while empowering them to become entrepreneurs.

Shyamya said she thought of the concept when she was a student and often ate from roadside stalls.“I realised then that hawking is an important source of livelihood for nearly 2.5 per cent of India’s population and a large number of people depend on them for food. After my graduation, I decided to improve their condition by attracting all those who avoid street food over hygiene concerns. I have asked vendors to use packaged water to avoid any chance of pollution,” she said.

According to her, a system was being developed to generate power from the garbage generated by the pushcarts.
After the inauguration, 27 pushcarts were distributed among the beneficiaries. Vendor Arvind Kumar Singh said only now he realised that hawking was a profitable and respectable profession.

“The concept is really good. I hope to earn at least Rs 5000 a month by selling litti chokha from this pushcart,” he said.
Sahay inaugurated the pushcarts at a time a drive is on against pushcarts and roadside stalls following a Jharkhand High Court directive. When it was pointed out to him, Sahay said efforts would be made to rehabilitate the vendors as the high court wants rehabilitation before displacement of vendors.

Convenor of International Federation of Hawkers and Urban Poor Saktiman Ghosh welcomed the efforts of the IIM alumnus.“This will boost the morale of more than four crore vendors who jointly do business worth over Rs 4000 crore a year. If such efforts continue, poverty will disappear from the country,” he said.

Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100628/jsp/jharkhand/story_12618884.jsp