In his first interaction with Town Vending Committees (TVC) and street vendors at Delhi secretariat, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday has urged members and MCD officials to start survey as soon as possible to resolve the issue of displacement of street vendors by the authorities across the city.
“Delhi Government will bear the cost of survey, which is to be conducted by Municipal Corporation of Delhi,” “Powerful businesses are against the poor, I will not let any injustice against the poor prevail,” said Kejriwal.
Echoing the rights of street vendors, Kejriwal said, "I am happy as survey has been initiated. We often hear about incidents where street vendors are removed from their places by the authorities.” “In countries other than India, street vendors are encouraged because it is a source of employment for the people living there. Governments should work towards providing employment rather than detracting it. Vendors, here in India are considered encroachers and a major cause of traffic jams whereas in other countries they are backed by legal support by the respective of Government," Kejriwal added.
Assuring the allotment of permanent space after survey work gets completed, Kejriwal said, "The survey will also observe places other than the street markets across the city, which will help generate employment on a large scale. The whole administrative system covering street vendors is rotten which is causing major difficulties for the vendors."
"No authority will remove vendors then, adding, "I want to request the MCD officials present amongst us to call a meeting for the TVCs by Tuesday. The TVC meetings will decide and finalise the agencies which will carry out the survey.
I was notified by the MCD officials that they do not have the required funds to carry out the TVC surveys. I told them that the Delhi Government will provide funds for the survey," Kejiwal said.
Delhi PWD Minister Satyendra Jain said, "Vendors are often troubled by authorities for setting up shops on the streets, and corrupt officials often extort money from them. To eradicate all these issues, a legal survey will be conducted initially."
" A certificate will be issued to the street vendors based on the survey with vendors’ details. Details of their families will also be included in the same. The survey will be completed within the next three to four months and the vending spaces will be fixed thereafter," Jain added.
" This will help in fixing the vending spaces as well as the vending zones across the city. Our motive is to promote vending on a large scale. Delhi has around 3-4 lakh vendors, and the actual numbers will be revealed after the survey. By fixing the vending spaces, we will be supporting 15-20 lakh people," the AAP Minister said.
According to Delhi Government a committee will be formed to decide the vending spaces and zones. "After clearance from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the government will give licenses to the street vendors. The certificate will also contain information about the goods in which they deal.
At the same time, there will be details about the zone and location. It will also contain full information including the name, address, name of the family members of the operator," a Delhi Government official said.
"Through survey we will obtain information about which area in Delhi has the maximum number of street vendors, detailed information of all street vendors, the kind of shops operated by street vendors, number of customers who visit the shop, number of shops required in different areas and locations across Delhi and Locations where street vending zones are required," the officials said further.