A section of street vendors in Bengaluru under Karnataka Pragathipara Beedi Vyaparigala Sangha has raised a slew of issues, including the non-disbursal of identity cards despite Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) conducting a survey last year under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act.
Story continues below this ad
The street vendors, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday, alleged that the identity cards had already been printed, and according to regulations, they should have been issued within three months of the survey.
Advocate and union office-bearer Vinay Sreenivasan said, “The survey was completed a year ago. After the new corporations were formed, we have given multiple memorandums…..Without the new ID cards in some places, the police harass vendors, asking them where their ID card is.”
Story continues below this ad
Among the other issues flagged by the union are alleged harassment by the police after the recent reorganisation of BBMP into five separate bodies, non-dumping of silt from drains on roadsides, and levying “illegal” fines on vendors at Jayanagar and Church Street.
The union has warned of protests if the state does not meet certain demands. It alleged that street vendors were being targeted despite a court protection order against evicting them in Vijayanagar, pointing to incidents where drain silt was left on the roadside for several months, only being cleared in the wake of media attention.
Story continues below this ad
In another incident, the police evicted several vendors from Munireddypalya market on Tuesday.
The union called for the formation of fresh town vending committees in each new municipal zone of Bengaluru, which is authorised to implement the Street Vendors Act. The vendors said that fresh committees have not been constituted after the expiry of the previous elected committee in 2020.
The union also urged the authorities to conduct orientation workshops for officers of the new municipal zones on the Street Vendors Act, while allocating funds in the upcoming budget to set up shelters in street vendor markets to protect the hawkers from inclement weather. It also called for free access to public toilets for women vendors.
The union also stated that a grievance redressal committee has to be constituted under Section 20 of the Street Vendors Act.