Vendors get more power now

HYDERABAD: Thoroughfares and roads in the twin cities will get more congested.
The government’s ‘National Policy on Urban Street Vendors’ giving them more powers is likely to see twin-cities swarming with more hawkers. The traffic police is already throwing up its hands in exasperation.
“If that’s the national policy, we will have to follow it.But the traffic police will have a tough time in ensuring free flow of traffic,� Additional Commissionser of Police (Traffic) D T Naik said.
The new policy’s objective is to provide and promote a supportive environment for earning livelihood to the street vendors, apart from ensuring absence of congestion and maintenance of hygiene in public spaces and streets.With the new pro-hawker policy in place.
D T Naik said the police will try to implement the government policy provided the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) allotted special zones for street vendors. “Otherwise hawkers will come on to the roads causing problems,� he said.
The policy aims to give vendors legal status and provide legitimate hawking zones in urban development and zoning plans. It has also been decided to stop imposing limits on number of hawkers on access to public spaces by imposing licenses.
According to the policy, city authorities should provide sufficient spaces, designated as ‘vendors markets’ in layout plans.
With the growth of city, every new area should have adequate provisions for street vendors. It also says ‘town vending committees’ should be formed with municipal authority, traffic and local police, public land owning authority, associations (traders, resident welfare associations), street vendor associations and national bank/commercial bank representatives, the policy says.
Some studies by the government revealed that street vendors constitute approximately two per cent of the population of a metropolis. Women constitute a large number of street vendors in almost every city.
Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) additional commissioner (health and sanitation) G Malsur said the government has given various guidelines, that will be adopted in the MCH also.
Till now, street vendors were never regulated in the city.Whenever, the police did not get enough ‘mamools’ they forcibly evicted the street vendors. Eviction is a regular feature seen at Koti. The total number of street vendors in the country is estimated at around one crore.
The government noted that urban vending was not only source of employment but provided ‘affordable’ services to the majority of urban population. The role played by the hawkers in the economy as also in the society need to be given due credit but they are considered as unlawful entities and are subjected to continuous harassment by police and civic authorities, the policy said.
This is reported to be continuing even after the ruling of the Supreme Court that if properly regulated according to the exigency of the circumstances, the small traders on the side walks can considerably add to the comfort and convenience of the general public by making available ordinary articles of everyday use for a comparatively lesser price.