Our livelihood initiative is geared towards achieving greater livelihood freedom for the rural and urban poor, and promoting choice and accountability in the area of skill development for underprivileged youth. We aim to further policy measures that increase ease of doing business and remove regulatory or market entry and exit barriers for India’s small entrepreneurs (street hawkers, cycle rickshaw pullers, small shop owners, farmers, among others). We are focussed on Street Vendors, Fisheries, Agriculture, and MSMEs and our work aims at removing regulatory barriers that hamper the prosperity of individuals.
Abuse of power is common, not because of the absence of law, but the lack of legal awareness, a systematic record of cases of harassment and proper legal enforcement. We propose to tackle these challenges by developing a comprehensive mobile application - Jeevika, a one stop access for street vendors to access free legal aid during harassment. With its simple user interface and one-click access, the application will: (i) become an online repository of legal information (ii) create a SOS platform for the street vendors and connect vendors to law students or lawyers; (iii) enable street vendors to geo-tag themselves for verifying property right claims; and (iv) help gather data on harassment and generate heat maps.
The Jeevika mobile application is part of our larger initiative on removing barriers to livelihood and doing business for the urban poor and marginal communities. We aim to empower vendors to fight against harassment and in the process be able to inspire others to do the same. The application, we believe, will eventually help improve the prosperity, freedom, and dignity of street vendors in India, hence championing their right to livelihood freedom!
