Sunny, a small street food vendor in Ayodhya, used to face multiple challenges in past as he had to shift his stall from one place to another sometimes due to the police and sometimes due to the employees of the Municipal Corporation. But now, the problems of many small street vendors like Sunny have been resolved with the establishment of a vendor zone by the Municipal Corporation Ayodhya.
Sunny has now got a permanent place for his shop.
Besides the locals, devotees arriving in Ayodhya can now visit the food vending zone here and enjoy different food on their arrival. This has also improved the lives of the vendors here.
The Municipal Corporation has not only set up vending zones but has also started skill development programmes at various places, thus augmenting employment opportunities.
Besides this, the Municipal Corporation has also supported many textile industries in Ayodhya during the last two years, due to which t-shirts and tracksuits are now being produced here.
Along with Ayodhya, these companies are now working to sell their products in other districts as well so that the glory of the Ayodhya brand would be visible across the country.
The street food hub built next to Ayodhya’s Ram Katha Park allows many vendors like Sunny to run their homes and generate employment. This hub sees a huge gathering of tourists and locals in the morning and evening hours. Food lovers come here and enjoy different cuisines.
Shops have been allotted to food vendors after issuing them the required licenses and all the shops have been made identically so that they look beautiful and symmetric. Most importantly, the Municipal Corporation has provided water and electricity connections in these shops.
Devotees who come to visit Ram Janmabhoomi and Hanuman Garhi stop here and taste different types of dishes.
Ayodhya Municipal Commissioner Vishal Singh told IANS that NULM (National Urban Livelihood Mission) is a crucial mission. “We are doing the work of skill development on a large scale. Along with skilling up the local population, work is also being done on how it can be linked to self-employment.”
“Within the last two to two and a half years, three big units have been set up here, which are manufacturing T-shirts, tracksuits etc., whose demand is also increasing in Ayodhya… Along with this, you can also see vending zones, shopping carts, and skill zones around,” he added.
He further said that several works have also been taken up on the vacant places in the city for generating employment.
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