The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has received over 30 suggestions and objections on the voter list of hawkers for the election of the Town Vending Committee. The BMC has started appointing representatives of hawkers in the committee to decide on the eligibility criteria, rules, and areas for the hawkers. The voters' list containing 32,407 names has been published on the BMC website, and the last date for submitting suggestions and objections is July 14.
Deputy Commissioner Sanjog Kabre stated that the suggestions and objections would be collected until Friday and bifurcated ward-wise. The administrative wards of the BMC will decide which suggestions and objections should be considered.
3 lakh hawkers in Mumbai
The hawkers' unions have claimed that there are 3 lakh hawkers in Mumbai and opposed the list prepared by the BMC. Opposition leader Ravi Raja has also objected to the voters' list, questioning how the BMC had distributed loans to more than one lakh hawkers under the PM Swanidhi Yojana if only 32,407 hawkers exist in Mumbai.
The formulation of hawkers’ policy was an old demand and the state government recently declared that representatives of hawkers should be included in the town vending committee.
