Mumbai: Following the primary verification drive carried out as part of the BMC’s hawking policy implementation, it has been found that of the 99,000 registered hawkers, only around 23,000 passed scrutiny. Officials said only these hawkers could produce valid documents. The civic body has now given them 15 days to submit documents, based on which they will be allotted hawking pitches.
The civic body is adhering to a Supreme Court order directing all civic bodies to implement the Street Vendors Act. As the Act mandates the creation of a Town Vending Committee (TVC), the BMC has recently formed one.
While zonal TVCs are yet to be formed, the civic administration has begun scrutinising eligible hawkers based on the registration applications submitted by them. In 2014, the BMC had received 99,435 applications from hawkers for licenses.
However, only 23,782 applications were found to be valid. For the primary scrutiny, hawkers had to submit proof of nationality and age, and of having been a vendor in the cityprior to 2014.
A BMC statement said, “Based on these, 23,265 forms were found to be valid. The rest didn’t have valid documents attached. They’ve been given one month to submit the remaining documents. A notice has been sent to their registered addresses.” Officials said forms are still being scrutinised.
Hawkers concerned
While some hawkers expressed concerns about the process, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Nidhi Chaudhari said there was no need to worry. “This is merely preliminary scrutiny. Hawkers can submit documents within one month. In most cases, only one or two documents were missing. We are hoping those cases will be passed.”
Those found eligible for the final scrutiny process will have to submit a domicile certificate, an affidavit stating the vendor or his immediate family will conduct vending activities, proof of not having other means of livelihood and another affidavit that states the vendor will not transfer his license.
Those who pass the final scrutiny will be assigned hawking pitches, based on a policy finalised by the TVC. The TVC will decide on suggestions and objections to the list of pitches, and finalise locations. Once hawkers are licensed and their activity regulated, those not holding valid BMC-issued licenses will be evicted.
Dayashankar Singh of the Azad Hawkers Union said, “The BMC doesn’t want hawking to be legalised, so that their officers can indulge in corruption. The preliminary scrutiny criteria was simple, and many hawkers applied as per the process. But the people scrutinising their applications are the BMC's own inspectors. I'm sure thousands more will be qualified for a license.”
Nikhil Desai, a civic activist, said, “Why did the BMC take so long to scrutinise applications? Now, after another month, who knows when the policy actually be implemented? The first basic step of forming zonal TVCs isn’t completed yet.”
