New Delhi: A group of street vendors in east Delhi’s Preet Vihar got a rude shock in July, ahead of the G20 summit this year. They were evicted by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) even though they had valid ‘certificates of vending’ from the civic agency.
Following this, a few vendors approached the Delhi High Court challenging the order and were granted permission to continue vending on 6 September. However, Mohan Singh Verma, one of the vendors who was evicted, said that they were not allowed to start vending until “almost a week” after the G20 summit.
“For nearly two months before the G20 event, we were not allowed to carry out our business. Though we have a certificate of vending, there is a constant fear of eviction,” Verma, who has a food stall near the Preet Vihar Metro station, told ThePrint.
Verma is not alone in his fear. Street vendors across the country face the threat of eviction, said Arbind Singh, founder of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI. This, despite a decade-old law — Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014— to protect them.
Singh said in several places, including Delhi, vendors with valid certificates of vending are compelled to approach courts for relief. “But it is not possible for all vendors to approach the court,” he added.
The issue of eviction and alleged harassment faced by vendors was raised before the Union Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at an event organised by NASVI in Mumbai on 23 November.
“Some vendors apprised the minister of the problems and harassment they face while doing their business. We have written to the ministry in this regard,” said Singh.
A senior ministry official confirmed that the MoHUA has received several complaints about harassment of vendors with valid certificates of vending from different cities and is planning to take up the matter with the respective state governments.
“These complaints have been there in the past as well. We have been writing to state governments to look into these issues, as street vendors with valid licences shouldn’t be harassed. We will soon write to state governments in this regard again,” the official added.
ThePrint contacted MoHUA for an official comment on WhatsApp, but failed to receive a response. This report will be updated if a response is received.
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‘Need for strict enforcement of law’
Singh advocates for the stringent enforcement of laws to safeguard vendors possessing valid documentation, such as the ‘letter of recommendation’ (LoR) and ‘certificate of vending’ (CoV) issued by government agencies.
Under the central government’s PM Street Vendors’ AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, a micro-credit facility launched in June 2020 to revive vendors’ livelihoods post the Covid-lockdown, has led to the issuance of LoRs and CoVs to tens of lakhs of vendors.
According to MoHUA data, as of 7 November, 53.76 lakh LoRs and 37.52 lakh CoVs have been issued to vendors under the PM SVANidhi scheme across the country. As of 30 November, the number of LoRs increased to 62.84 lakh, according to the information available on the dashboard.
However, despite the scheme helping many vendors restart businesses, Singh said that they “continue to face harassment by municipal corporations and police officials.” He asserted that vendors with valid documents are still being evicted across the country.
Situation in other states
Similar to Delhi, the Street Vendors Act faces comparable challenges in its implementation across various states. ThePrint spoke to officials in Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim to understand the problems encountered by vendors, as well as the obstacles hindering the smooth implementation of the Act.
State officials pointed out a shared difficulty—they face challenges when trying to allocate vending spots, primarily due to limited space and concerns related to traffic congestion.
In some instances, vendors are also not satisfied if they are allocated space outside their usual areas of business.
“We tried to come up with a scheme for developing dedicated vending zones, but the street vendors opposed it,” said a senior official in the Maharashtra government. “Due to traffic and other concerns, a large number of street vendors can’t be allowed at one location or a market.”
In Haryana, of the 88 urban local bodies, 20 have made provisions to accommodate over 3,000 street vendors at new locations, said a state government official.
“The government is yet to start a survey in some cities to identify street vendors who have to be provided space for vending. Not all PM SVANidhi vendors can be provided space, and a separate list of vendors will be prepared,” the official added.
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‘Act yet to be implemented in letter and spirit’
After years of struggle by the street vendors’ association, Parliament passed the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act in February 2014.
The legislation safeguards the rights of this unorganised sector, which is considered as one of the most integral parts of the economy.
Per the Act, states and Union territories must notify rules and schemes for its implementation. However, a senior MoHUA official said that in several states, these regulations were only put in place after PM SVANidhi was introduced.
Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and Haryana are among the states that have notified the rules and schemes or both, but only after June 2020, according to the information available on the PM SVANidhi portal.
“One of the main conditions of the scheme was that states should have notified rules and schemes for the implementation of the Act. The scheme pushed states to expedite the process to implement the Act,” said the official.
A senior Uttarakhand government officia said: “We had the rules in place, but there was no clarity if the scheme had to be notified separately. We notified the scheme in June 2020.”
The Act provides for the establishment of Town Vending Committees (TVCs), which comprise representatives from the vendors’ community. These TVCs are tasked with responsibilities such as earmarking vending zones, conducting vendor surveys, issuing certificates, and providing essential facilities at vending zones. Additionally, TVCs are empowered to make decisions regarding the identification of vending zones and setting fees.
According to senior ministry officials, 13,403 vending zones and 1,350 vending markets have been developed across the country.
While TVCs have been formed in most cities, vendors’ associations ThePrint spoke to said that meetings were not held regularly and committees were not very effective in implementing the law.
“Frequent incidents of evictions are reported across the country as the TVCs are not functioning effectively. In Patna in October, street vendors who had valid CoVs were evicted by the district administration. The TVCs have to be empowered. In several cities, the TVCs don’t meet for months,” said Roshan Kumar Chaudhury, programme manager at NASVI in Bihar.
Dispute redressal missing
The street vendors’ legislation provides for a dispute redressal mechanism to resolve grievances. However, according to NASVI, which has a vast network of street vendors across India, this crucial provision is missing in almost all states.
According to the Act, “the appropriate government may constitute one or more committees consisting of a chairperson who has been a civil judge or a judicial magistrate and two other professionals having such experience as may be prescribed for deciding the applications received….”
It further clarifies that “no employee of the appropriate government or the local authority shall be appointed as members of the committee”.
According to NASVI’s Singh, the reason why street vendors are compelled to approach the courts is because dispute redressal is not implemented in most states.
“Very few cities have a system in place, but it is not very effective. Now that so many vendors have been identified, there is a need to put in place an effective system for dispute redressal,” he added.
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PM SVANidhi a game-changer
Street vendors associations and urban poverty experts told ThePrint that the PM SVANidhi scheme has been instrumental in pushing for the implementation of the Street Vendors Act.
According to Aravind Unni, an urban poverty expert, even after the Act was passed, the survey of vendors, as mandated by the Act, was not done by the local governments.
“Before Covid, surveys done by states showed some 18 lakh-plus street vendors in the country. But after the PM SVANidhi scheme was introduced, the numbers have gone up. The gap between the numbers is massive,” said Unni.
Urban poverty and development experts suggested that, now, the city administrations need to start planning for street vendors.
“To ensure that vendors are not harassed, they need to be provided space. For this, there is a need to incorporate vending zones in the master plans of our cities,” Unni explained.
He pointed out that almost all master plans of cities have space for parking, parks, commercial areas, etc., or provision to ensure parking space is provided, but they are silent on vending areas.
“How will TVCs identify space for vending if there is no provision for it in the master plans? Until this is done, vendors will continue to face problems,” he added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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