Street vendors in Tiruchi allege errors in identity cards

Tiruchi Corporation faces challenges in issuing accurate ID cards to street vendors due to bogus entries and errors.

Tiruchi Corporation’s drive to issue identity (ID) cards to street vendors before the formation of a vending committee has been hampered by bogus and inaccurate entries, a vendors association has alleged.

“Though there has been much discussion about the regulation of street vendors in the city, the authorities are not taking care of the basic steps such as enrolment. As it is, we have at least 10,000 hawkers and street stall holders in the city, but only half that number have been registered,” A. Ansardeen, district secretary, Tiruchi district Street Vendors Association, told The Hindu.

In the first phase of the drive, 5,380 persons had received their identity cards by mid-July. However, street vendors claimed that rectifying errors in registrations could take several months.

When contacted, a senior Corporation official said the enumeration list had been kept “dynamic” at present since many street vendors tended to move into other sectors over time. “We have added over 900 new names to the list since July. Vendors must make a formal complaint in writing to us about corrections and bogus or wrong allocations, and we will carry out the changes. Once the vending committee is in place, complaints of this nature will be under their jurisdiction,” he said.

The official added that he was aware of the errors in data, but no formal complaints had been registered yet.

“We have been told that cards have been handed out to people such as auto-rickshaw drivers, who do not fit the category of street vendors. In many cases, even those who are not running businesses have obtained an ID card, especially in Gandhi Market area. At the same time, long-running street stalls have been completely left out. The data collection has been done in a haphazard manner,” claimed Mr. Ansardeen.

The Corporation’s 15-member vending committee will have six elected persons to represent the traders. An official at the level of the Assistant Commissioner has been appointed as a nodal officer to coordinate the distribution of identity cards and the formation of the vending committee. It is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.