Street vendors from Tirupparankundram and members of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) on Monday submitted a petition at the Collectorate seeking expeditious implementation of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.
The Act deals with identification and implementation of vending zones by formation of town vending committees to earmark areas for vendors to carry out their livelihood activities and stay protected from bribery and extortion.
The vendors from Tirupparankundram alleged that they had to face a host of issues to carry out their daily work.
“I sell bangles and small fancy items on a push cart and am often stopped and asked for a licence and other documents by the police. Whenever we park the cart somewhere and try to sell our goods, we are asked to leave or are chased away,” said R. Murugeswari, a pushcart vendor.
Echoing her views, M. Uma, a flower seller, said that under the Act, they should be granted a permanent place to carry out business which would help them.
“Our details were collected for making identity cards and we also attended training programmes for the formation of zones, but nothing else had been done till now and we had been waiting for long,” she said.
The vendors sought a separate place and adequate infrastructure.
P. Kalidas, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Madurai district secretary, said that the State had to implement the Act at the earliest to protect the interests of the street vendors.
“There have been numerous reports of atrocities against vendors which affected their livelihood. Officials from the Melur Municipal office had allegedly kept dustbins near the place where vendors in the area sat to discourage them from carrying out business there,” he said.
Vendors in Thirumangalam and Othakadai were facing troubles as well, he added.
