The curious case of a state’s selective benevolence

Why read this story?

Editor's note: A fairly common occurrence in many of our daily lives is the trip to the local thelawala to buy something. Fruit, vegetables, chaat, momos, litti or paav bhaaji, socks, headphones or inflatable toys—there’s almost always an informal street vendor selling something nearby in urban India. Rarely do these vendors have any kind of formal paperwork or permissions allowing them to ply their trade (although efforts have been made towards licences in some states in the last decade). Yet, they continue to function, a natural part of India’s cityscape. However, from time to time we see upheaval in their environment. Municipality officers will come through market areas and destroy encroachments, local police will evict those who don’t have some kind of paperwork, street vendors will disappear before VIPs drive by, fruit carts will be upended and sent packing during curfews and lockdowns. Their precarious daily reality is largely dependent on the forbearance of a selectively benevolent state. At its simplest, forbearance is the act of being patient or refraining from enforcing a right or a law. The idea and practice of …