Mumbai, March 28: Nearly one and a half years later, the vote counting for the BMC’s main and seven zonal Town Vending Committees (TVCs) took place on Saturday at the BMC headquarters. A total of eight committees are electing their members, and the results are yet to be announced.
Counting underway across zones
On Saturday, the vote counting for Zones 1, 2 and 4 was completed, while the counting for the remaining zones was still underway till evening. "The results will be announced once the entire counting process is completed. Thereafter, the elected members will be presented with certificates by the election officials," said a senior official.
Ballot boxes opened after long delay
During counting, all 136 ballot boxes, which had been securely stored in the strong room, were taken out and handed over to the election officials on Saturday noon.
With the assistance of around 200 to 250 staff from the BMC's Licence Department, the election officials commenced the counting in the presence of the candidates and their representatives.
Role and composition of TVCs
The TVC, chaired by the BMC chief, guides the implementation of the hawkers’ policy. It includes seven zonal committees with 20 members each, eight of whom are hawkers’ representatives. Elections were held on August 29, 2024, with a 49.46% average turnout.
Following Supreme Court directives and pending petitions, vote counting and result declaration were withheld, and ballot boxes remained securely sealed for the past one and a half years.
Court clears way for results
On March 23, 2026, the Bombay High Court delivered its final verdict in the matter, declaring the election process conducted in 2024 as ‘valid’ and lifted the suspension on vote counting. The administration was also directed to declare the results without delay.
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Background of hawkers’ policy
The BMC began developing the hawkers’ policy following the Parliament's passage of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act in 2014 and a subsequent Supreme Court order.
During a 2016 survey, the BMC identified 1.65 lakh hawkers, though only 99,000 submitted forms. The BMC has designated 400 hawking zones throughout the city.
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