Kamala is a small vegetable vendor residing in Venkatapuram village. She buys seasonal vegetables from the wholesale vegetable market in a nearby town and sells them in streets carrying the she goes back to her house to refill the basket and resumes her selling. In between, she also cooks and feeds children and eats her food. On some days she is too tired or sick to do this tough job and has to rest at home.
What price does she charge from her customers?
If she buys for example in the whole sale market, 10 kilograms of tomato for Rupees 120, she sells it at Rupees 18/- per kilograms. But she can sell all the tomatoes at 18/- per kilograms. If the tomatoes are over-ripe, she has tell to sell at 12/- or even 6 per kilograms to avoid spoilage. In the morning she sold tomatoes at Rupees a kilograms and by the evening we found her selling at Rupees 9 to 10 per kilograms. On the whole she earns about 105 to 155 in a day, which is not sufficient to meet her family needs.
Kamala is just one of the thousands of vegetables vendors of our state. In towns, may vendors have a permanent place hired either from the municipality or from private shop owners? Some are also selling on the pavements, paying a small amount to town panchayat or municipality
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