Vending panel remains defunct as licensing and hawking zones remain stalled

Nagpur: The prolonged inactivity of the statutory Town Vending Committee (TVC) has exposed critical gaps in Nagpur's hawker regulation framework amid the ongoing 100-day enforcement drive by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC).Constituted under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the TVC is tasked with identifying vending zones, conducting vendor surveys, issuing licences, and overseeing rehabilitation of hawkers. Documents accessed by TOI show the committee last met on April 1, 2025.Ironically, soon after that meeting, NMC's city hawkers committee cell issued a warning notice to TVC member and hawkers' representative Abdul Razzaq Qureshi for repeated absence from meetings.Hawkers' representatives alleged that the civic administration failed to complete mandatory groundwork under the law, including demarcation of vending zones and issuance of licences.Earlier proposals had identified 43 hawking zones across the city, but several remain incomplete or non-operational, leaving thousands of vendors without authorised vending spaces.Qureshi said previous surveys covered nearly 35,000 vendors, but only around 1,100 pre-2016 hawkers were considered during licensing exercises. He claimed that the number of hawkers rose sharply after the Covid pandemic due to unemployment and economic distress."The number of vendors is now nearing one lakh. Unless vending zones are properly identified and licences issued through regular TVC meetings, the problem will persist," Qureshi said.TVC member Kaustav Chatterjee stressed the need for balanced regulation and regular stakeholder consultations."Removing hawkers alone cannot solve the issue. Vendors return because this is their only livelihood. Clearly demarcated vending zones and continuous monitoring through active TVC meetings are essential," he said.Chatterjee also suggested preference in regularisation should be given to long-time local vendors and proposed voter list inclusion before 2010 as a possible eligibility criterion.Hawkers' representatives further alleged that enforcement action was being taken even in traditional and natural markets protected under provisions of the Act, forcing some vendors to approach courts.Municipal commissioner Vipin Itankar said the NMC, in coordination with agencies including the revenue department, identified govt land parcels where hawker zones could be developed."The NMC will give its best to resolve the issue permanently," he said.