Designated safe street food zones to be set up shortly in Delhi

TIMES VIEW

Good hygiene's in good taste

The plan to develop eight safe street food zones in Delhi is a boon for food lovers and street food vendors alike. Delhi, like many other cities in the country, can boast of a rich street food culture. Representing an eclectic range of delectable dishes, street food exemplifies the rich traditions of Indian cuisine that is affordable and readily available. In fact, Indian street food is one of the many attractions for foreign tourists visiting India. But street food outlets and push carts have been often found wanting in hygiene standards. This is precisely why creating safe street food zones to ensure minimum standards is a good idea.

In this initiative, the National Association of Street Vendors of India (Nasvi) will train vendors in the safe zones to follow basic hygiene practices such as wearing aprons and gloves, and handling food properly. Once the vendors pass the training, their outlets will be eligible to receive a safety stamp from Nasvi. It's in the interest of street vendors themselves to obtain a safety certificate, as this would automatically result in positive advertisement for their outlets and draw in more customers.

Designated street food zones would also help regulate food-borne diseases through focussed inspections. Further, these would enable municipal bodies to provide better services to vendors such as clean drinking water, sanitation etc. There are lessons here to be learnt from Taiwan's famous night markets. The latter helped put Taiwanese cuisine on the world map, with thousands of tourists visiting the small East Asian nation just to sample its food culture. Apart from delicious dishes, Taiwan's night markets also curb food adulteration and other unscrupulous practices through collective responsibility. There's no reason why this model cannot be replicated here, with eight safe street food zones soon rising to 80, 800, 8,000 and so on.

COUNTERVIEW

Stop harassing vendors

Delhi's attempt to carve out 'safe zones' for street food needs to be seen in the context of an ongoing attempt to enforce standards of hygiene and sourcing on food served across all commercial establishments in India. This attempt is misguided. The bone of contention is not that there should be no standards, but a one-size-fits-all approach to regulation is impractical. It is reminiscent of other well-intentioned but ill-conceived regulations such as those concerning labour, which ended up being counterproductive.

Estimates suggest there may be 10 million street food vendors in urban India who cater to millions more. From a functional standpoint, the most important aspect of street food is cost. It meets the needs of consumers on a tight budget as capital costs for street food vendors are low. Any attempt to regulate street food needs to consider trade-offs. Enhanced standards of hygiene in the form of gloves and bottled water would translate into an increase in price of food. This development, in turn, would reduce access to inexpensive food for some consumers. The trade-off here is between enhanced hygiene and access to food. When seen in this context, 'safe zones' and regulatory directives on hygiene to street food vendors rest on a weak foundation.

It is inaccurate to portray street food vendors as impervious to change. Across urban India, some street food vendors have enhanced hygiene standards in response to pressure from customers. In parts of Delhi, it is common to come across street food vendors using gloves even without a regulatory directive. Increasing public awareness and higher incomes will usher in better standards. A premature move here will only make street food vendors vulnerable to harassment at the hands of petty bureaucracy and the food unaffordable for some consumers.