The Street Vendor Protection of livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Bill, introduced by Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Girija Vyas, was passed in the lok Sabha on Friday. This has spread delight among the roadside vendors across the country, including in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and other parts of the State.
Notably, thousands of makeshift stall owners across country under the banner of National Hawker Federation had staged demonstrations at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and before the Parliament on August 27 last demanding approval of the law in the current Parliament Session.
The Bill along with 40 other amendment proposals made by the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Parliamentary Committee was passed by ballot voting following a discussion made by 21 MPs from various parties.
Significantly, the Bill will be converted into law after it gets further passed in the Rajya Sabha and approved by President Pranab Mukherjee. If it becomes a law, the protection of livelihood rights along with the social security of an estimated of over 5 crore roadside vendors and makeshift stall owners, including other small traders, will be settled down.