Street vendors want no evictions till completion of survey

Street vendors in the city have decided to lay siege to the headquarters of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday, demanding that no street vendor should be evicted till the civic body conducts a pan city survey identifying street vendors

Street vendors in the city have decided to lay siege to the headquarters of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday, demanding that no street vendor should be evicted till the civic body conducts a pan city survey identifying street vendors. 

“The BBMP has evicted thousands of street vendors across the city recently. We demand the BBMP return the material seized at the time of eviction and allow the street vendors to return to the same spots to continue their business, especially in Jayanagar, Malleswaram, Moodalapalya, Banashankari, and Mahadevapura,” Federation of Bengaluru District Street Vendors Associations’ said. 

The association demanded that the BBMP issue a directive affirming that the ID cards issued in 2017 will remain valid until the street vendors’ survey is concluded.

“The civic body is bound by law to conduct a survey of street vendors every five years as per the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. The last survey was done in 2017, when only 25,000 street vendors were identified, while the city actually has an estimated 1.5 lakh street vendors. The next survey should have been conducted in 2022, but still hasn’t been taken up yet,” the federation said. 

“The survey should be conducted by the BBMP and not be outsourced to external agencies. The BBMP should also hold consultation meetings with street vendors’ associations to get feedback and suggestions regarding the survey,” the statement said. 

Meanwhile, C.E. Rangaswamy, member, Town Vending Committee (West Zone) and also chairman of street vendors’ cell in Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, petitioned Chief Civic Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath saying that the civic body should form a street vendors grievance redressal committee at the city level as per the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 and the Rules, 2020 framed by the state government.

“The committee should be headed by a retired civil court judge, two magistrates, and an expert with experience in the unorganised economy as its members as per the law,” the petition said.