The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) organised a protest outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house on Monday over the “poor implementation” of the Street Vendors Act 2014.
NASVI president Arbind Singh said that vendors demanded proper functioning of the grievance redressal committees (GRC), which are autonomous bodies constituted to look into the grievances of street vendors.
He added that the town vending committees (TVC), which oversee the survey of street vendors, “should be given complete powers under the 2014 Act”.
“We have also decided not [to] accept the vending certificates that are currently being distributed by various civic bodies because there are irregularities regarding the spot of vending. A certificate of vending must clearly state as to where the vendors can execute their vending activities. The GRCs are not functional and TVCs have no power when it comes to deciding hawking zones; they are powerless,” said Mr. Singh, adding that there was “no clarity” regarding the extended street vendors’ survey.
According to the data provided by Delhi Street Hawkers Survey as of November 24, conducted by the Government, 74,182 hawkers have been identified across the city and 60,453 have been approved. The Delhi Government had decided to extend the survey period till December 7 to identify more street vendors after multiple appeals by municipal councillors and street vendors’ associations.
Mr. Singh said that the Delhi CM “had repeatedly refused to meet with the street vendors’ delegation” during the protest and that the latter would organise a protest “in larger numbers” on December 2 if their demands were not met. Protests were also held by the National Hawkers Federation at Jantar Mantar.
“BJP councillors of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) have been conducting vendor surveys and issuing certificates according to their own wishes. We had demanded for the designated department to carry out the surveys and remaining procedures but the BJP councillors are interfering with the process,” said SDMC Leader of Opposition, AAP’s Prem Chauhan.
