COVID-19 and Street Vending in Tribal Areas: A Qualitative Analysis From Ground Zero—Aizawl, Mizoram, Northeast India

Abstract

This study explores the impact of the COVID-19-induced economic crisis on tribal street vendors in Aizawl, India, using the framework of resilience theory. The paper uses a case-study approach to examine how street vendors recouped their economic losses after the relaxed lockdown phase during the region’s most celebrated Christmas and New Year festivals. A total of 74 street vendors were interviewed for this study using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study discusses that despite the relaxation of lockdowns, vendors faced extreme challenges in earning their daily wages, causing an inability to satisfy basic requirements like food, paying rent, and experiencing harsher workplace conditions. We observe that street vendors had heterogeneous motives toward street vending and were not driven by a single theoretical perspective. We present that most street vendors during the lockdowns reflect resilience in their businesses, socioeconomic, and workplace conditions through their indigenous coping mechanisms and social networking. We find that street vendors displayed entrepreneurial qualities during the lockdowns by either changing the goods they sold or how they were sold before the pandemic. The study recommends different economic and financial policies for street vendors at the ground level such as improving basic workplace amenities, safety, and awareness among street vendors and consumers.