Street vendors demand resolution of 993 surveyed cases, oppose mobile licences ahead of town vending committee meeting

The vendors warned that displacement without rehabilitation could lead to social problems

Raising objections to the proposed agenda of the Town Vending Committee (TVC), representatives of street vendors and rehri–phari associations Thursday said no further decisions should be taken until long-pending issues of 993 surveyed vendors are resolved.

Vijay Kumar Bittu, president of the Rehri–Phari Association and the Town Vending Committee, said the meeting called at the Municipal Corporation on January 9 is based on an agenda prepared without consulting committee members. “The agenda was prepared without taking the Town Vending Committee into confidence. We will not allow any decision to be implemented until the issue of 993 vendors surveyed earlier is resolved,” he said.

Bittu demanded that vendors who were surveyed earlier be provided stationary vending sites, not mobile licences. “Licences issued for roaming vending should be cancelled. Vendors should be accommodated in vending zones in the same sectors and phases where they were originally surveyed,” he added, pointing out that allotting a single site in Phase 6 was impractical as all vendors could not be adjusted there.

Town Vending Committee member and Rehri–Phari union chairman Jaswinder Sharma said that 993 vendors were surveyed in 2016, and in 2023, vendors were asked to deposit Rs 1,000 each per month as fees. “As per the corporation’s own record, fees from 445 vendors have already been deposited. Nearly Rs 1 crore has been collected from vendors, so they must be given proper stationary licences and fixed spaces,” he said.

Sharma also alleged selective action, claiming enforcement drives target poor vendors while encroachments by showroom owners remain unchecked. “Action is only being taken against small vendors, while shopkeepers openly encroach on public spaces without any action,” he alleged.

Another member, Ravi Kumar, said that these issues will be taken up in the town wending committee Friday and a memorandum will be given to the Mayor and the Commissioner.

“Of the 993 vendors who have already been surveyed, the Municipal Corporation should allot them space and must not harass them. However, those new vendors who have come from Chandigarh or other places and whose names do not figure in the survey should be removed. We are ready to cooperate with the Municipal Corporation and will ourselves assist the MC in clearing such unauthorised vendors,” said a member of the union, Ravi Kumar.