Include Mayor in hawkers’ committee, demands Cong

Mumbai : The Congress corporator from Kurla civic ward, Ashraf Azmi, has written a letter to the civic commissioner Ajoy Mehta with a demand to involve Mayor and local ward representatives in the Hawkers Town Vending Committee (TVC).

Azmi, while speaking to Free Press Journal, said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is acting upon the Supreme Court orders and forming the TVC committee for Mumbai and at all seven zonal levels after sitting on it for almost three-and-half-years.

The BMC has recently called an application inviting Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), market-hawkers association, community based organisation (CBOs) and others interested to be the member should apply between December 1 to 9 on mcgm.govt.in website.

“Also like draft Development Plan (DP) this Town Vending Committee would also get scrapped as there is no involvement of local representatives in the committee. Therefore, to avoid this the civic corporation should include one representative of local body in the committee is what I have been asked,” said Azmi.

He further stated the administrative officer cannot be available for public 24×7, and its only public representatives to whom the citizens complain. Hence, if in any ward the hawking and no-hawking zone been declared and if at all any dispute occurs then the ward councillors can resolve the issue easily. In addition, the Mayor is the first citizen of Mumbai, therefore, he should be empanelled on the Mumbai TVC  and at zonal TVC corporators should be involved.

On contrary activist are against the proposal. Nikhil Desai of Matunga remarked corporators only want powers but in reality, they do nothing.

“Also, the Supreme Court (SC) has set the guidelines of the National Hawkers Policy 2014 and as per the BMC is working. However, the second income in form of bribe is so much that nobody wants to give up easily. Therefore such demands are been made, but it should be peoples centric only,” said Desai.

While another activist named Gaurang Dhamani of Sion is of the opinion that the local representatives should be involved. The problems pertaining to hawking is well known by the local corporators particularly, therefore his involvement should be mandatory. He adds as long as the nexus between the hawkers, BMC officials and corporators go on their won’t be any solution to this problem.