Skill India launches programme to upskill street food vendors

NEW DELHI: Skill India, a campaign by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched a programme to upskill street food vendors and help them become eligible for e-Cart licences.

“The ministry announced today to skill the street vendors of East Delhi and make them eligible for e-cart licenses, improving the hygiene conditions in food preparation and aesthetics of vending,” an official statement said.

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The objective of this programme is to provide relevant skills to the vendors, to provide better services to consumers, more opportunities to vendors for revenue generation, awareness on regulations and stipulated rules, in return providing better services to the local bodies, it said.

Skill India aims to upskill 2,500 vendors, aged between 23 to 55 years in its pilot phase with East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).

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Launching the initiative, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Ministry of Electronics and IT, said that India is home to 55 Lakh street food vendors, their contribution to the informal economy is 14% which is not a small number and highlights the significant role played by them in making India’s economy.

Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Council (THSSC) and training partners of NSDC will implement the project.

“Under the initiative, the street food vendors will be educated on health and safety standards, safety provisions under COVID-19 protocols, effective communication techniques with staff and customers, new-age skills such as digital literacy, financial literacy, digital payments and e-selling,” the statement said.

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All candidates who have completed registration will go through a counselling session conducted by the Training Partners (TPs). The counselling session aims to provide clarity to candidates on their skill competencies, aptitude, interests, opportunities, and structure of the itinerary for next 4-5 days, the statement further said.