An open letter to PM Modi on his ‘pakoda' statement
Mr. Prime Minister,
In a TV interview recently, you asserted that a person is earning Rs. 200 a day selling pakodas is also an employed person. Many people took offense to this statement, claiming that your promise to generate one crore jobs is a hoax.
While we appreciate the fact that you recognize street vending as employment, the harsh realities under which street vendors carry out their livelihood has been lost in your statement. Street vending is an independent and dignified profession. We are proud to be street
vendors.
However, we cannot take away the context in which we have become street vendors. It is out of distress of migrating to a city, of drought in villages, agricultural crisis reeling in this country, and more importantly lack of employment options that we have resorted to treet vending.
Moreover, education has become a costly affair for millions of people in the country. In fact, you are further distancing it from the people by decreasing the budget outlay for education, which you presented yesterday. The poor in this country cannot get an education, but there are no job options for those educated either. And even when we want to earn a decent livelihood of street vending, we face
harassment and threats of evictions from various authorities on a daily basis.
Even when the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihoods and Regulating Street Vending) Act, 2014 was passed by the UPA II Government, very few State Governments have implemented the legislation. The Act grants a right to livelihood to us street vendors and is intended to provide solace to us from all the harassment. However, we continue to be left out of public spaces; police officers demand hafta, municipal authorities threaten to evict us, residents call us dirty, that we obstruct traffic, and other
such unreasonable allegations are made against us. It has been four years since the Act came into force and four years since you have been the Prime Minister of India.
If you thought this was an honorable profession, why do we continue to be perceived as a nuisance? The Lieutenant General of Delhi ordered massive evictions, in blatant violation of the 2014 Act. Why has no action been taken against any authority across the
country for trying to evict vendors? What have you, Mr. Prime Minister, done for us street vendors? When you sat in opposition to the UPA Government, you vehemently opposed Foreign Direct Investments in Retail – against Walmart and Target entering our country. However, you have now approved 100 percent in single-brand retail. This will no doubt harm small businesses, including us street vendors. To add insult to injury, your ‘smart cities' project is ensuring complete evictions of street vendors.This project is not only affecting our livelihood, but is taking away our right to shelter as well. The smart city has become synonymous with evictions of street vendors and slums. Your vision of development does not include us, sir. Instead, your policies are increasing the number of dispossessed people every day. There is no respite for us from poverty. So, where is our acche din? When you demonetized the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes, us street vendors were the most affected. You want to make India cashless.
Do you expect our customers to swipe money into our phones for a dozen banana? In addition to this, you've introduced GST. It is wiping out small usinesses who source small items for us to sell.
Sir, we do not want a ‘Smart City,' we do not want a ‘Digital India,' we do not want ‘Make In India' or your ‘Swacch Bharath,' if it doesn't allow municipal workers, construction workers, slum dwellers, and street vendors to live with dignity. We want public education, public health system, and public housing! You are shirking your responsibility to provide us all of this and are instead privatizing our entitlements. Yes, it is employment if a person sells pakoda on the streets. But, do not use us as an excuse for your inability to provide jobs to the citizens of this country, and going back on your promise. On the contrary, we street vendors stand on our abilities
and hard work.
We will fight against anyone who takes away our rights!
Yours Sincerely,
Bengaluru Jilla Beedhi Vyapari Sanghatanegala Okkuta
Contact: 9880316961, 9880595032, 9686757053
Email: bvokkuta@gmail.com
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'I am calling it off': Arijit Singh retires from playback singing
New Delhi (PTI): "I am calling it off, it was a wonderful journey," said Arijit Singh on Tuesday, announcing that he will not be taking up any new assignments as a playback singer, a decision that sent shockwaves across his fan base.
In a message shared on his social media pages, Singh said he has decided to step away from playback singing, a move that comes at the peak of his career as one of the most popular and in-demand voices in Hindi cinema.
“Hello, Happy New Year to all. I want to thank you all for giving me so much love all these years as listeners. I am happy to announce that I am not going to be taking any new assignments as a playback vocalist from now on. I am calling it off. It was a wonderful journey,” he wrote.
The 38-year-old, however, clarified that he would continue to make music independently and complete existing commitments.
“God has been really kind to me. I am a fan of good music and in future will be learning more and do more on my own as a small little artist. Thanks again for all your support. I still have to finish some pending commitments, will finish them. So you might get some releases this year. Just to be clear that I won’t stop making music,” he added.
While Singh did not elaborate on the reasons behind his decision, the announcement was met with disbelief with many fans expressing their dismay in the comments section.
"Too soon sir, can’t be real," wrote one user.
Another person said, "This cannot be true."
"Arreey but whyyyyyy ??????? Why are you doing this to us ??? Please don’t go man. We need you for atleast 20 more years," read a comment.
Singh's rise in the Indian music industry has been nothing short of meteoric.
He started out as a contestant on reality show “Fame Gurukul” in 2005 and made his playback debut in 2011 with “Phir Mohabbat” from the Emraan Hashmi-starrer "Murder 2".
He broke into the big league with the soulful hit “Tum Hi Ho” from “Aashiqui 2” in 2013. The success of the song made him a household name.
After that, Singh quickly became the voice of many moods, be it love, heartbreak or happiness. He went on to deliver a string of chartbusters such as “Channa Mereya”, “Agar Tum Saath Ho”, “Raabta”, “Kesariya”, “Gerua”, “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” and "Chaleya".
Over the years, he has lent his voice to nearly all of Hindi cinema’s leading stars -- from superstars Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan to actors like Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh.
Singh recorded songs in multiple Indian languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi, and collaborated with leading composers and filmmakers.
His work earned him numerous Filmfare Awards, including multiple Best Male Playback Singer honours.
In July last year, Singh edged past global pop stars Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran to emerge the most followed artist on music streaming platform Spotify with 151 million followers.
