Mumbai: The town vending committee (TVC) approved a list of 32,000 hawkers who can carry out their trade in the city on Thursday. This voter list will now be submitted to the state Labour commissioner to conduct an election for the new TVC. The list has been awaiting approval since January.
Demand by hawkers' union
The hawkers' union had demanded the cancellation of the list and a fresh survey, citing the presence of 2.5 lakh hawkers in the city. However, the civic authorities decided to proceed with their list of eligible hawkers. Dayashankar Singh, President of Azad Hawkers Union, who attended the meeting, said, "On one hand, BMC distributes loans for 1.5 lakh hawkers under the central government scheme, while they have finalised a list of only 32 thousand hawkers. What will BMC do with other hawkers who are not on the voter's list? It is not clear yet."
"The committee approved the draft of the voter list. This list will be sent to the state labour commissioner to conduct an election for the hawkers' representative for the town vending committee. The Labour commissioner will decide the program of the election," said the civic official. The hawker policy was formulated to provide designated places for eligible hawkers.
The TVC guides the implementation of the hawker's policy. The committee is led by the BMC chief and seven zonal committees, which also include representatives from various BMC departments, traffic, police, and members of the hawker association.
Each committee comprises 20 members, with 8 members being hawkers' representatives.
