6 yrs on, vending zones a distant dream in city

Street vendors sell fruits alongside a road in Ludhiana. Inderjeet Verma

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 5

Six years have passed since the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, came into force, but vending zones are still a distant dream for street vendors.

As per the Act, the Municipal Corporation (MC) was supposed to set up vending zones for the vendors but it has failed to do the same till date.

Over 21,000 street vendors were identified in the city during a survey launched around three years ago, but the MC had failed to set up the vending zones.

The vendors’ unions blamed the authorities for delaying the project to set up vending zones in the city. They had been demanding from the government to provide them space but to no avail.

Vijay Kumar, a street vendor, said, “Some of the MC officials are deliberately delaying the establishment of vending zones. Though vending zones were not set up, the police and the MC had taken action against the vendors and lifted their carts under an anti-encroachment drive. But during the lockdown, the same vendors had ensured door-to-door delivery of fruits and vegetables. However, our voice is still ignored.”

Tiger Singh, president, Rehri Phari Federation, said, “A number of meetings to conduct discussion on proposed vending zones have been done but the MC has not set up even a single vending zone till date. The vendors are forced to pay hefty fee to the MC for stationing carts on roadsides these days. They also face harassment by some staff members. We demand from the government to set up vending zones at appropriate locations in the city so that they can sell goods without facing any inconvenience.”

Inder Aggarwal, a former councillor, raised questions over the working of the MC. “The project to set up vending zones is being delayed by the civic body for a long time. If the vending zones are set up, vendors will not be forced to station carts or run business on roadsides. Traffic movement will also become smooth in the absence of encroachments,” he said.

MC’s Zonal Commissioner Neeraj Jain said the vending zones would be set up soon.