Street vendors become special component of development plan PTI, New Delhi, July 26: Recognising the role of hawkers in the economy, the Centre has finalised a national policy which envisages to make street vendors a “special component” of the development/zoning plans by treating them as an integral and legitimate part of the urban distribution system.
Aiming to do away with the popular perception of treating street vendors as unlawful entities being subjected to continous harassment by police and civic authorities, the policy calls upon the state to protect their rights. “Street vendors provide valuable services to the urban population while trying to earn a livelihood and it is the duty of the state to protect the rights of this segment of population to earn their livelihood,” the national policy for urban street vendors has envisaged. During the proceedings before the Supreme Court today on the issue of Mumbai hawkers, advocate Mr Vijay Panjwani informed the court that the Centre would file the national policy in the court within three weeks. Emphasising the demarcation of the vending zones, the plan stresses that the designation of vendors market and no vending zones should not be left to the sole discretion of civic authorities and must be accomplished by a participatory process by a town vending committee, comprising atleast 25 to 40 per cent of the total number of its members. At least one-third of the representatives of street vendors are women, it said.