In its bid to clear the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas from squatters and vendors, the Enforcement Department of the council carried out a major one-week eviction drive which is to continue for more days.
However, after protests from the affected vendors, the NDMC officials now claim that only those street vendors with the pre-existing rights under section 3(3) of the Street Vendor Act will be allowed to sell their goods and wares in the jurisdiction of NDMC areas. Such vendors are listed in the survey pursuant to the Thareja Committee and the survey was carried out in 2007 and 2011.
A senior NDMC official said only unauthorised vendors without license and false documents have been evicted. Those street vendors who block movement in public passage or pavements etc, then the NDMC may evict them subject to condition, said the official.
“At NDMC area about 90 per cent area has been declared as the non-vending zone especially CP area,” informed NDMC official. They NDMC may evict any street vendors from the 'non-squatting zones' under the schemes existing prior to the enforcement of the Street Vendors Act.
Interestingly, the Town Vending Committee (TVC) which was constituted in May 2016, to regulate street vendors has become a toothless body as Court has stayed the schemes to manage the street vendors.
In a recent High Court orders on 27 September 2016, the Court said, “The vendors with the pre-existing rights under section 3(3) of the Street Vendor Act listed in the survey pursuant to the Thareja Committee and the survey carried out in 2007 and 2011 would not been disturbed.”
The NDMC officer on the condition of anonymity told The Pioneer there is a procedure lapses. “Always TVC is formed first and then municipality, along with the members of TVC, forms scheme. However, in this case the Delhi Government formulated the scheme first and TVC was constituted later. Therefore, court granted stay on the scheme which was formed on January 2016. Now, the TVC is in fix to take an action as court has stayed the scheme to regulate the street vendors,” he said.