Legislation and reaction from the street

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of ban on smoking in public places imposed by Government of India on street vendors who sell cigarettes for their livelihood. Semi-structured interviews formed the research instrument and the five vendors interviewed were geographically spread across the town of Anand and the city of Ahmedabad. Results indicate that those retailers who are at the margin face a decline in their sales, coupled with an increased vulnerability to the rent seeking behavior of law enforcing agencies. Criminal activities as an alternative source of livelihood is suggested by vendors in case their source of livelihood is threatened, leading to the conclusion that there are trade-offs in common good associated with legislations.