Street vendors want permanent status

State government amended the Tamil Nadu Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) scheme 2015, aimed at regulating the street vendors to decongest the busy zones of the corporations and municipalities. Through the scheme, every civic body would have to constitute a Vending Committee headed by the Municipal Commissioner as chairperson and 14 members including a police officer, medical officer, representative from NGOs and member residents association. The main objective of this committee is to survey the street vendors spread across the civic body limits and would record the places accumulated with street vendors. The categories of street vendors like stationary vendors, mobile vendors, and other category vendors would be enumerated and also identity card would be provided to each street vendor. However, the committee is yet to kick off in the city corporation limits. 

Meanwhile, an executive committee meeting of the street vendors association was organised in the city on Tuesday in which the AITUC State Secretary C Chandrakumar said, over two per cent of the city population are hawkers making shops along roadsides for livelihood and so the vending committee is the need of the hour so that it will pave way for identifying and establishing of vending zones and no vending zones within the city. The vending committee apart from regulating the street vendors if established can also pave way for improving the income generation potential of corporation. Through the amended scheme, vending fees can be collected from the vendors depending upon the area of the shops ranging from 10 sq ft to 25 sq ft, he said. This apart, the vendors are responsible for maintaining cleanliness of their respective vending zones. Similarly, the team would play a key role in prompt collection of taxes to the civic body.