Mumbai: The Minister of Industries Uday Samant on Friday said it will ask the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to provide temporary vending spaces to eligible street vendors in the city, following directions issued by Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.
Law Implementation Delayed
The matter was raised in the Assembly through a calling attention motion by Rais Shaikh, who pointed out that street vendors in Mumbai are still waiting for their rights to be implemented even more than a decade after the enactment of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act. Shaikh said the law clearly provides for the formation of a Town Vending Committee, a survey of hawkers and the allotment of designated pitches to eligible vendors, but the process has remained incomplete.
Urgent Government Action Needed
He urged the state government to speed up the process, establish hawking zones in the city and ensure that vendors identified in the survey are given designated spaces to run their businesses.
Survey and Eligibility Data
Replying to the discussion, Industries Minister Uday Samant said that a survey carried out in 2014 had identified 32,415 eligible hawkers in Mumbai. He informed the House that application forms had been distributed to 1,28,443 individuals, of which 99,435 were submitted to the civic body. After scrutiny, 32,415 applicants were declared eligible and recognised as voters in the survey.
Legal Hurdles Delay Allotment
Samant said the process of finalising vending spaces has been delayed as some hawkers’ organisations have approached the courts, and the state government along with the civic body is presenting its position in the ongoing legal proceedings.
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Speaker Orders Temporary Pitches
Observing that the law was enacted in 2014 and the rules were framed in 2016, Narwekar questioned why the process had not been completed even after more than ten years. He directed the government to ensure that all vendors declared eligible in the 2014 survey are provided temporary vending pitches until permanent allotments are made through the Town Vending Committee once the legal hurdles are cleared.
Concerns Over Illegal Hawkers
During the discussion, BJP MLA Amit Satam also raised concerns about illegal Bangladeshi hawkers operating in the city and suggested that such individuals should not be allotted vending spaces. The Speaker acknowledged the suggestion while issuing directions to the government.
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