Parliament may have passed a Bill to protect street vendors in February this year, but the municipal corporations – the authorities meant to enforce it – have not made any progress in regulating and protecting the lakhs of vendors across the Capital.
Since its formation in 2012, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has not allotted any areas for vending. In a reply to a short notice query by Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Goel and Congress councillors Satbir Sharma and Prithvi Singh Rathore, officials told the House on Monday that no street vending licences were given from April 2012 till May 2014.
The Congress councillors dismissed the answer, alleging irregularities within the civic body’s Remunerative Projects Cell (RP Cell). “I have myself seen vendors operating with an ‘Approved by MCD’ tag. If they are running without the RP Cell’s knowledge, then that is a problem and if they are running with the cooperation of officials, then there is corruption involved,” said Mr. Sharma.
The Leader of the Opposition said the Town Vending Committee, as envisaged in the Street Vendors Act, 2014, has not taken any action to implement the law. “Street vending in North Delhi is riddled with scams as those who can pay bribes are allowed to function and those who can’t are harassed,” said Mr. Goel.
As per official data, there are 62,494 pending applications for street vending licences in North Delhi from 2007 onwards. Representatives of street vendors said the licences would come later, but the first step of identifying spaces for street vending has still not been taken.
“The Town Vending Committees in the three corporations had decided months ago that they would undertake surveys, but that follow-up has not happened. The New Delhi Municipal Council has not done anything,” said Arbind Singh, the national coordinator of the National Association of Street Vendors of India.
At the second meeting of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Town Vending Committee on May 15, a local team was set up to survey the Mandawali and Shahdara areas to identify street vending spots. In North Delhi, a meeting of the committee on April 7 decided that the survey would start with Karol Bagh zone. According to Mr. Singh, there has been no action on this.
He added that street vendors were hopeful after the corporations formed the committees. “There have been mixed signals. The officials are waiting and watching, maybe because of the change in government,” Mr. Singh said.
North Corporation Commissioner P.K. Gupta, who is also the chairperson of the Town Vending Committee, said a list of applicants had been frozen. “Now, we will start identifying space for street vending,” Mr. Gupta said.
While municipal officials continue to pass the buck, street vendors say they are still being harassed despite there being a law meant for their protection. “Ultimately, you need heart and you need mind,” said Mr. Singh matter-of-factly.
