Hawkers demand exclusive space to conduct business

HYDERABAD: Hawkers from various parts of the city demanded on Saturday that they be provided with exclusive hawking zones in the likeness of rythu bazaars. In a memorandum to the director general of police and the municipal corporation, they said they too should be allowed to do their business without any harassment.
“We are constantly threatened by police, shopkeepers and officials from the enforcement cell of the GHMC.All we want to do is make an honest living like everybody else. As a symbol of protest we have presented employees at the South Zone office with flowers,” said a street hawker. Hawkers demanded that National Policy on Urban Street Vendors be implemented and that legislation be formulated to enable street vendors conduct their business unhindered. They also requested the authorities to restructure the city master plan making local area plans ‘inclusive’.
Inayat Ali Baqri, general secretary, National Hawkers Federation Andhra Pradesh said, “Hawkers are an oppressed lot. We have requested the authorities to be hawker-friendly and asked for space like rythu bazaars where vendors can conduct their business in peace without fear of harassment. We have submitted memos to the director general of police, the GHMC commissioner and the additional commissioner, traffic.”