Pakistan Govt focused on development of entrepreneurial ecosystems
Dr. Sania Nishtar on Monday visited the ‘Ehsaas Rehribaan’ site in G-11 Markaz of Islamabad to interact with street vendors who have been offered improved carts and training to streamline and support the local vendors.
The collaborative street vending initiative aims to create an enabling environment for street vendors in Islamabad.
During the visit, Dr. Sania met local street vendors and learned about their viewpoints on the multistakeholder initiative and explored possibilities to improve the street vending ecosystem.
Under the umbrella of Ehsaas (Pakistan’s biggest social protection program), model vending carts with eco-friendly structures have recently been handed over to a select number of existing vendors in the G-11 sector of Islamabad city.
Talking to the reporters after the visit, Dr. Sania said that “Ehsaas Rehribaan initiative has been launched to improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the local vendors in line with the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to create an enabling environment for street vendors.”
After meeting Dr. Sania, the street vendors lauded Ehsaas initiative saying that this was the first time that the government has provided vending licenses and improved carts to them which would help them earn their respectable living and do not have to run away when municipal authorities visit the area.
Ehsaas Rehribaan initiative
The model vending initiative is an outcome of collaboration between Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety Division (PASSD), Capital Development Authority (CDA), Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI), ICT Administration and Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).
Ehsaas Rehribaan is the first pilot project of its kind in the country to improve the street vending ecosystem in Islamabad. The program offers street vendors the opportunity of being actively engaged with multiple government stakeholders to contribute effectively to the local economy.
Currently, Ehsaas has provided prototype vending carts to 25 street vendors in the first phase. There are overall 85-street vendors operating in G-11 Markaz according to a survey. The placement of remaining 60-street vendors in G-11 with improved carts will be upscaled later this year.
Zia Banday, Focal Person on Street Vendors’ Initiative, said that “After the successful execution of the pilot project in G-11 Markaz, the initiative will be scaled up through coverage of additional areas and regularization of more street vendors. The intervention will not only provide a decent livelihood for people from lower strata but will also enhance city outlook with the placement of aesthetically pleasing carts.”
Elaborating the project, Chairman CDA Amer Ali Ahmed said the PM wanted to address the plight of street vendors through a sustainable solution. “This multi-partite collaboration will be expanding its footprint in facilitating more street vendors in other areas of the city. CDA is working on making this street vendor model scalable and replicable for urban Pakistan.”
Administrator Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad Syeda Shafaq Hashmi when the new carts were handed over to people with 20-years of vending experience they were in disbelief and had tears in their eyes as “They never thought that any government official will ever approach them with empathy and they will be regularized under objective criteria.”