The Sector V hawker you buy your lunch from may now be wearing an apron over her attire, a cap covering her hair and may serve you wearing gloves. What’s more, you may even have a bright blue dustbin to dump your paper plate in after your meal. 

An NGO has started an initiative to provide food hawkers in Sector V with items that would make the process hygienic. The hawkers chosen for the first leg of the scheme sit opposite Swasthya Bhavan and were given the items last Friday.  

“We chose this site opposite Swasthya Bhavan as it is symbolic,” said Samaresh Mukhopadhyay of Gana Unnayan Parshad.
The Kasba-based NGO has been working with Sector V food hawkers since 2011, spreading awareness about hygiene, telling them their rights etc. “We have identified 10 to 12 hawking zones in the IT hub and will gradually reach out to all.
We started with 11 hawkers today and will try to cover the SDF Building-RDB Boulevard stretch later this month.”

The event was also attended by representatives of the corporation, the Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority and the police. 

The hawkers are excited with the accessories. Sisters Pushpa and Kalpana Pramanik were seen making parathas on Monday wearing the aprons and caps. “We always try to maintain cleanliness and these items will help us,” they said.  

As per their requirement, the stalls have been given dustbins, aprons, caps, gloves, pincers, steel water containers etc. “We could have given them for free but we have seen that free items are not valued. So we have asked hawkers to pay 10 per cent of the market price of the items in installments,” said Mukhopadhyay.