A delegation from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) met municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta on Monday and handed him a letter from party chief Raj Thackeray dated October 15.
Mr. Thackeray, in the letter, called on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to implement its hawking policy and the domicile rule that mandates hawkers to be residents of the State. He said, “If the BMC fails to take such action [against unauthorised hawkers], we will have to take action by our method. I hope it does not come to that.”
After the Elphinstone Road tragedy, the MNS started targeting hawkers around the city. The BMC is in the process of awarding licences to hawkers and implementing its hawking policy as per the Street Vendors Act. A State government resolution mandates that before licences are issued, hawkers should produce a domicile certificate to prove they are residents of Maharashtra.
Mr. Thackeray, in his letter to Mr. Mehta, said that the rule should be implemented strictly and action should be taken against anyone trying to dilute it. He demanded to know the reason behind the delay in implementing the policy.
Mr. Thackeray said no unauthorised hawkers should be allowed to operate once pitches are finalised.
