Apr 30, 2014

Programme aids vendors in registration

NEW DELHI: A month after the Delhi government started registration of street-food vendors in the city, not many have managed to get a registration number as it can be done only online. To assist vendors in the registration process and educate them about food safety and standards, National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) held a special programme at Sarojini Nagar's Keshav Park on Tuesday.
The Delhi government was one of the first to adopt the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, in 2011. But it failed to implement the scheme due to technical hurdles. Now that the process has started, civic society members, who have been fighting for it, don't want it to fail. NASVI has taken the initiative to rope in as many street food vendors as possible.
Last year, the Delhi government and NASVI had identified eight markets-Sarojini Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Karol Bagh, Jheel, Paharganj, both sides of Nizamudin railway station and New Delhi railway station-where the pilot project would be implemented.
"We have started the project from Sarojini Nagar. We helped 125 street-food vendors register on Tuesday. We will continue the drive for the next one week and try to register all food vendors in the market,'' said Arbind Singh, national coordinator, NASVI. The programme was attended by over 100 vendors.
"I have been working for the past five years in Delhi. What they are teaching is new to me, but I feel this will help me in my business. I'll try to follow basic hygiene standards taught by them," Sajan Kumar Mandal, a street food vendor in Sarojini Nagar.

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