Mighty unions oversee dala deals, keep records

KOLKATA: The more things change, the more they remain the same. The quasi-legal system of sale and purchase of dalas — in which seller and buyer of space on the pavement would sign a “formal agreement” on a non-judicial stamp paper — has been replaced by a more informal system in which an agreement is inked on hawkers’ union letterheads.


But, instead of loosening hawkers’ and unions’ grip over Kolkata’s pavements, the “more informal” system has actually ended up tightening their control over space that is actually meant for you. The use of union letterheads and the venue where most such deals are signed now — the confines of a union office — has given an extra layer of “protection” to the encroachment of pavements, with even the police wary of enforcing the rule of law because of the local politician’s involvement.



A Gariahat hawker, who has been doing business for three decades, disclosed how unions maintained “every hawker’s records”. “The union maintains a notebook with hawkers’ names and addresses, the exact location of the dala, the dimension of the footpath allotted to the person and aphotograph of the hawker doing business. Both seller and buyer sign on the notebook to record the agreement when the dala changes hands. The deal happens before a senior union member and no transaction is permitted without his or her consent,” the hawker told TOI.


Once meant for refugees, hawking now a gold mine

Office-bearers of the Gariahat Indira Hawkers’ Union, with whom around 1,400 hawkers here are registered, confirmed the presence of such a database.

“We have now begun digitising notebooks as they are becoming rather bulky. We assign serial numbers to hawkers and the shop’s location is identified by measuring the exact distance from the start of a crossing. The database also records which side of the pavement the stall occupies and and its position with respect to a prominent shop or establishment. We maintain a Word file for each hawker along with photographs and details,” the senior union member said.



This system is now followed across locations. A Hatibagan hawker said unions controlled all sale-related negotiations. “Money changes hands after the two parties sign on the union letterhead. A revenue stamp is affixed to give the document a semblance of validity,” he explained.

A similar process is followed for renting out space. The terms of agreement are decided at the union office. There must be a one-time payment (salami) and then rent on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The union office approves this but the onus is on owners to collect the rent. A small diary is maintained in which the tenant and the owner sign after each payment.

In New Market, however, lease agreements continue to be drawn up in legal language on non-judicial stamp paper. “The rate for a new dala along Chowringhee varies between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 10 lakh,” a hawker said.

“Street-vending began in Kolkata around Partition as a means of survival for refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan. But it has now evolved into a trade that employs over 3 lakh people and generates business worth Rs 2,000 crore annually,” said Subhas Datta, who filed a PIL in 2002 in the Calcutta High Court on mismanagement of traffic, in which pavement grab by hawkers figured prominently.