The first Public private dialogue on the issue of street vending was organized by Bikalpa as a part of their research effort titled Reforming Market Series. The program was held on 18^th of June 2018 at the Biratnagar Metropolitan office hall. The participants consisted of stakeholders from waste management committee, officials from the metropolitan tax department and members from various civil society organizations. The program was also attended by Deputy Mayor, Mrs. Indira Karki and the Executive head of Metropolitan office, Mr. Kumar Prasad Dahal. A total of 20 participants were present at the event.

The program, chaired by the mayor of Biratnagar, Mr. Bhim Parajuli, began with a short paper presentation on the research paper titled Formalizing Informal Markets: Reforming the street vending sector of Biratnagar by Sarwagya Raj Pandey. The presentation focused on the present scenario of these vendors who have been neglected and overlooked while framing policies. It also stressed on the need to formalize these sectors by bringing them into a tax bracket and providing them the benefits in the form of vending zones and proper infrastructures. Following this, the floor was opened for discussion and the following participants raised question on various issues ranging from the legality of street vending to managing and rehabilitating them.

Following are the excerpts from the questions raised by the participants.

Uttam Dhungel

• Footpath is for walking and not meant for traders
• Vendors can practice vending in an open ground that is properly managed and not on the streets
• People come from India such as Mothihari and other neighnouring villages to do business here and take back the revenue to India, this way we are losing our losing the taxes.
• Need to make proper rules and regulation for the vendors because they are a good source of good revenue, therefore they need to be legalized
• Meat and fish are being sold openly, without any quality control which can cause major health issues to the people.

Devi Prasad Acharya

• It was good that the presentation mentioned about the livelihood of the vendors
• There are mire cons than pros to street vending such as no space in the roads, drains getting blocked
• We should provide them with an alternative space and make it more manageable and better now that it’s a Metropolitan city
• It hinders the beautification of the city

Punam Dahal

• Do more study on the international examples and do more depth research on the topic
• Provided example of Thailand regarding what and why the market started there

Arjun Thapaliya

• Vendors make the whole Biratnagar’s environment dirty
• There is more demerit than merits to street vending
• Identify which sector and which locality has all this major hatiyas `and suggest where can the hatiyas move.

Sanjiv Chapagain

• Now that it is metropolitan city and a capital of the Pradesh Capital we should have the street vending’s properly managed.
• The vendors will not be ready to move from their old places to because they will not earn as much as they usually do, therefore identifying new vending zones are important.
• Mention an alternative solution in your recommendation.

Kumar Dahal

• Meat and animal product must be banned as they easily contaminated and causes health issues
• They will not leave the places they’ve been vending in and therefore stricter rules and regulations are needed
• Identify the locations and suggest where the vending’s can be made possible
• Bring and action plan and take the research more forward

Shiva Rijal

• Identify the locations and suggest where the vending’s can be made possible
• Need to ask the vendors where they want to be re-located
• Need to focus on our own citizen and encourage them more involved than the Indian citizens.

Mayor Bhim Parajuli

• Identify the major locations of street vending
• More data on their total population
• Spread awareness to the vendors as well regarding cleanliness and proper management
• Advocate, campaign and spread awareness for that the government will support and pass the budget
• A place should be allocated and only their street vending should be permitted
• More depth research is required
• Make a proper policy and try to incorporate them into the formal tax system.
• Make a proper mechanism
• Proper monitoring and evaluation must be done