The more than 45-day-long exercise to survey street vendors in Mysuru and issue them QR code-based vending certificates has progressed very slowly owing to poor response.
The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), in association with Mysuru unit of Karnataka State Street Vendors Maha Mandala, launched an exercise to enrol street vendors in the city to not only regulate street vending, but also make the welfare initiatives of Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, accessible to them.
Though October 30 was the last date for the vendors to enrol by submitting various documents with the office of Day NULM (National Urban Livelihood Mission) of MCC situated near Gun House, only a small percentage responded to the initiative.
G.M. Ravindra, Additional Commissioner of MCC, who is also in-charge officer of Day NULM, told The Hindu that they had received barely 1,400 applications till Monday, a day before the last date of October 30. The MCC, through the representatives of the Street Vendors’ Association, had distributed 5,000 applications.
Bhaskar Srinivas Raje Urs, president, Karnataka State Street Vendors Maha Mandala, Mysuru unit, admitted that the response from the vendors had been poor despite the association’s best efforts. He estimated that there are more than 12,000 street vendors in Mysuru selling vegetables, fruits, fast food items, clothes, handkerchiefs, handicrafts, etc. in various parts of the city. “We had identified representatives ward-wise to enrol vendors. Though applications had been distributed to many of them, they are yet to submit the same with the required documents. Many of them are still arranging the documents,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, the MCC, which did not rule out a possibility of extending the last date of registration, said they will start issuing vending certificates with QR codes only after receiving a substantial number of applications. “We will start processing the applications after we receive about 2,000 of them and issue the vending certificates,” Mr. Ravindra said.
He pointed out that the certificates will not only mention the vending location, but also the type of business the vendors are engaged in. “Their data can be accessed when the QR code on the certificate is scanned,” he added.
The authorities have identified and developed ten special hawking zones in the city, where necessary facilities have been provided. In other localities, vending will be allowed only if there is no hindrance to traffic and pedestrian movement, officials said.
The vending certificates issued by the authorities will not only authorise the vendors to carry out their business in the designated places after paying the stipulated rent, but also entitle them to various welfare measures of the government including housing and loans, Mr. Urs said.
Documents sought
Street vendors have been requested the submit required documents for the issue of vending certificates and ID cards to the office of the Mysuru City Corporation’s (MCC) Day-NULM, opposite Uttaradi Mutt, near Gun House, Mysuru.
The documents required include election identity card, BPL card, Aadhaar card, caste certificate, bank pass book, a photo of family members, vendor’s photograph, age and other details of all family members, place of vending, time, nature of business and items used in the business, etc.