---
type: syllabus
topic: livelihoods
topic_title: Small entrepreneurs
topic_url: 'https://liberty-lighthouse.vercel.app/topics/livelihoods/'
canonical_url: 'https://liberty-lighthouse.vercel.app/topics/livelihoods/syllabus/'
markdown_url: 'https://liberty-lighthouse.vercel.app/topics/livelihoods/syllabus.md'
---
# Small entrepreneurs — Syllabus

## **Books**

1. [The Death and Life of Great American Cities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_and_Life_of_Great_American_Cities) — Jane Jacobs. Argues that mixed uses, frequent footfall, small shops, and "eyes on the street" make neighbourhoods safer and more functional; useful for understanding vendors as part of a street's social life rather than as obstructions.
2. The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (Basic Books, 2000) — Hernando de Soto

## **Academic Papers**

1. [The Use of Knowledge in Society](https://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html) (1945) 35(4) American Economic Review 519 — Friedrich A Hayek
2. The Problem of Social Cost (1960) 3 Journal of Law and Economics 1 — Ronald H Coase
3. The Property Right Paradigm (1973) 33(1) Journal of Economic History 16 — Armen A Alchian and Harold Demsetz
4. Police Powers and the Constitution of India: The Inconspicuous Ascent of an Incongruous American Implant (2014) 28 Emory International Law Review 63 — Arvind Datar and Shivprasad Swaminathan
5. [The Supreme Court and Article 19(6) of the Indian Constitution: A Study of Judicial Behaviour](http://hdl.handle.net/10603/515694) — Prashant Narang, PhD thesis, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU, 2019. Supervisors: Prof. Jaivir Singh and P. Puneeth
6. Street Smarts! Vendors and Property Rights in Delhi, India (2024) 1(1) Markets & Society 116 — Prashant Narang and Jayana Bedi

## **Legal Cases & Statutes**

1. State of Bombay v RMDC Chamarbaugwala AIR 1957 SC 699; 1957 SCR 874 — held that gambling competitions were not "trade" or "business" under Article 19(1)(g), establishing that some activities can be treated as outside ordinary constitutional protection
2. Khoday Distilleries Ltd v State of Karnataka (1995) 1 SCC 574 — held that citizens have no fundamental right to trade in liquor, though once the state permits such trade, licensing decisions must still meet standards of fairness and non-arbitrariness
3. Man Singh v State of Punjab (1985) — upheld Punjab's owner-puller rule for cycle rickshaws, accepting the state's argument that it protected pullers from exploitation by vehicle owners
4. All Delhi Cycle Rickshaw Operators Union v Municipal Corporation of Delhi (1987) — upheld Delhi's rule that a cycle rickshaw licence could go only to the owner-puller, and that one person could not hold multiple licences
5. Manushi Sangathan v Government of Delhi (2010) — Delhi High Court struck down Delhi's owner-puller rule and licence cap, holding it harmed poor workers who could not afford to buy a rickshaw but could rent one to earn a livelihood
6. Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014
7. Delhi City Taxi Scheme, 2015 — taxis were allowed to operate through individual and fleet models, while rickshaws were pushed toward one-driver-one-vehicle regulation
8. Delhi Transport Department, E-rickshaw Road Restrictions
9. [Supreme Court's 2024 decision declining to reconsider the one-lakh ceiling](https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-rejects-plea-by-bajaj-auto-to-raise-cap-on-auto-rickshaws-in-delhi-262918) on auto-rickshaws in Delhi — Live Law

## **Reports**

1. [Report No. 95: Removal of the Three-Wheeler Cap](https://cdn.cseindia.org/epca/EPCA-Reports1999-1917/report-no-95-removal-of-three-wheeler-cap.pdf) — EPCA

## **Podcasts & Videos**

1. [The Plight of Our Street Vendors](https://seenunseen.in/episodes/2020/6/28/episode-179-the-plight-of-our-street-vendors/) — Prashant Narang with Amit Varma, The Seen and the Unseen, Episode 179. A long-form conversation on the legal, economic, and moral questions around street vending in India
2. [पकोड़ानॉमिक्स: फेरीवालों की व्यथा / Street Vending in India](https://www.puliyabaazi.in/p/street-vending-in-india-416) — Prashant Narang on Puliyabaazi. A Hindi discussion on street vendors, public space, corruption, and the Street Vendors Act
3. [Third Wheel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVWjuH8p1_Q) — Prabodh. A short documentary-style video on Delhi's cycle-rickshaw economy and the everyday reality of rickshaw pullers
4. [Pedalling Past Permits: How India's License Raj Choked Dreams & Dignity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hhEBRzPRyg) — Prashant Narang, TEDx. On how permit rules and livelihood restrictions shaped the cycle-rickshaw sector
5. [Right to Property](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88I99SYlb2g) — Prashant Narang. Compares property rights and livelihood claims of cycle-rickshaw pullers, street vendors, and auto-rickshaw drivers