Mumbai: 8 reserved seats for members on town vending committee up for grabs

Pic/Anurag Ahire

A lottery will be held on Monday for the eight reserved seats for members of the town vending committee under the hawkers' policy. The lottery will take place at BMC headquarters under supervision of the labour commissioner's representative.

To implement the long-awaited hawkers' policy, it is necessary to establish a town vending committee for the city as well as for seven administrative zones, each comprising 20 members. Of these, 12 are nominated, while eight are representatives. "Out of the eight representatives, three will be female," the official said.
"The lottery will be held for members of Scheduled Tribes, minorities, Other Backward Classes, handicapped individuals, and women," the official added.

32K hawkers can vote

A total of 32,000 hawkers are eligible to vote. The BMC initiated the formulation of the hawkers policy in 2016 in response to the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act passed by Parliament in 2014, following a Supreme Court order.

Meanwhile, the BMC conducted a survey of hawkers in 2016 and identified 165,000 hawkers. However, only 99,000 hawkers submitted forms. The BMC has also identified 400 hawking zones across the city.