Numerous street vendors came out in protest on Tuesday against the Mangalore City Corporation’s eviction drive as well as the lack of implementation of the street vendors act.
Gathering under the banner of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the protestors demanded the corporation desist from evicting street vendors, and instead identify “food plazas” in the city where vendors could hawk without harassment from police and officials.
“Though we have protested numerous times and urged the Mayor and the corporation not to deprive economically weak street vendors of their livelihood, the corporation continues to do so. It is inhumane to evict vendors without finding them an alternate spot to hawk,” said Sunil Kumar Bajal, Honorary president of CITU.
He alleged that officials were going after street vendors, who were “soft targets”, instead of hotels and eateries that were flouting health laws and dumping waste on the roads. Though the corporation had completed their survey and formed a town vending committee as mandated by the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the protestors said the process of distributing identity cards that would protect them from harassment and eviction, was being “unnecessarily” delayed.
The protestors also demanded that the corporation clean debris and provide footpaths in busy areas that see a concentration of street eateries.
