The All India Trade Union Congress has initiated a signature campaign at Punjai Puliampatti and Sathyamangalam seeking implementation of Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, in Tamil Nadu.
The Act, protecting rights of street vendors, would benefit one lakh people in the State, according to the trade union. Vendors need to be protected from bribery and extortion by the police and local body officials. They are being forced to conduct business in perennial fear of eviction, according to local representatives of the trade union.
The campaign is meant to remind the State Government of its responsibility to demarcate vending zones on the basis of traditional markets through formation of town vending committees for issuance of certificate of vending.
When the need for relocating them arises, vendors need to be given a notice of 30 days. The Act provides for formation of a dispute resolution body chaired by a person who had been a civil judge or a judicial magistrate.
