Listen to this article:

This is the second article in a three-part series based on a field project to understand informal work in Kashmir and its impact on vulnerability and marginalisation amongst vendors. Focusing on two critical city-markets of Batamaloo and Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar, the series looks at how informal workers negotiate livelihood, precarity and everyday regulation. Through these market spaces, we examine the wider social and economic conditions that shape the governing dynamics of urban informality across Kashmir. Read part 1.

India has sought to expand financial inclusion by widening access to digital payments such as UPI. At the same time, it has been providing targeted support to street vendors through programmes like PM SVANidhi, to help formalise and stabilise their livelihoods.

However, evidence from street vendors in Srinagar’s bustling street markets at Hazratbal and Batamaloo indicates these programmes and goals are far from being met. A staggering 96.2% of surveyed vendors accept UPI in these markets, yet none operate digital bank accounts under their names. This indicates that although vendors have been included in the financial system through UPI, many still do not benefit from economic autonomy.

This survey, conducted through in-person interviews with 200 vendors selling fruit, clothing, household goods and other items, captured both full-time and seasonal sellers operating in these markets. The interviews were conducted during their active vending hours. Although the sample is not intended to represent all vendors in Kashmir statistically, it provides systematic insight into everyday economic practices in these two major street-vending clusters.

A vend in Batamaloo. Photo: Zahid Iqbal Shah

Some vendors raised concerns about their ability to track digital payments and transactions. Many expressed their lack of knowledge about the requirements for using digital banking in their work, or even for opening an independent bank account. Especially for women vendors, the study found that many were unbanked, with their payments being processed through their father’s accounts.

Since vendors trust a family member to manage their finances, they often prefer using an existing relative’s account rather than........

© The Wire