Mar 24, 2020 / 17 SDGs

Y-East brings #BePolite Campaign to Kolkata

Kolkata, Sept 2019

According to WIEGO, the total number of street vendors in India is estimated at around 10 million. Some studies estimate that street vendors constitute approximately 2 percent of the population of a metropolis. A majority of them lack access to basic infrastructure & facilities. During peak-hour in the evening, access to reliable electricity, especially lighting is a challenge for street vendors.

Solution:
A Solar Powered light with a mobile-charging facility, was designed by Bengaluru based Architect Aakarsh Shamanur & distributed through the #BePolite initiative. Furthermore, through the initiative, it was learned that by providing these lights, he enabled;
Safer working environments for women vendors
Improved levels of trust between customers & vendors
Longer working hours, hence increase in income levels

During Durga Puja & Diwali in Sept 2019, we at Y-East collaborated with Aakarsh Shamanur from #BePolite & Nagakarthik MP from Sauramandala Foundation and kicked off the #StreetUpCalcutta Campaign, a city-scale project in support of Kolkata’s Street Vendors – these entrepreneurs, backbone of our city that we have so much to learn from! Techno India University, BePolite, SauraMandala, Smoke Inc. and Offbeat CCU, brought together by Y-East, joined hands to empower their lives across Kolkata through various initiatives: provide them with Solar Lighting kits (#BePoliteCalcutta), and artistically revitalise their stall for a colourful, smoke-free Durga Puja & Diwali festivals!

We intended to achieve this goal with the support of students from Techno India Group, who came forward to raise funds through crowd-funding campaigns on the SmallChange.ngo platform, which was used to provide Solar Powered Lights to Street Vendors across Kolkata during Diwali. Furthermore, the campaign goals were aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. More than 300 students were split into 37 teams to cover most of Kolkata, to identify street vendors, interact with them, assess their needs and they eventually delivered solar light kits to the street vendors in two batches just before Diwali.