Mumbai: BMC reluctant to process licences for hawkers?

Roadside hawkers at MG Road, Ghatkopar West on March 26. File pic/Anurag Ahire

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has appealed to hawkers once again to apply for PM SVANidhi scheme and will hold ward-wise meetings to create awareness about it. However, the civic body is apparently restraining itself from giving licences to hawkers as the election process of the town vending committee, which is an essential link for the authorisation of vendors, is still pending.

Under the PM SVANidhi scheme, a vendor is initially entitled to a loan of Rs 10,000 and must repay the same in monthly instalments over a year. Upon full repayment, the vendor can avail themselves of another loan of Rs 20,000, and later on, Rs 50,000. So far 1,38,000 applicants have been approved for loans under this scheme in Mumbai. "Out of these, approximately one lakh vendors have been allocated financial assistance through various banks," said a BMC official.

In order to maximise the number of street vendors, civic administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal instructed ward-level awareness meetings. Fish sellers, women's self-help groups, vendors at weekly markets and part-time sellers will also be included in this scheme. Wards with more street vendors and hawkers have been given more targets under this scheme.

Vendors are reluctant to avail themselves of the scheme, citing the frequent crackdown on hawkers by the BMC and the city police. Even the process of allocating licences to authorise vendors has been taking place at a slow pace. In the meeting held on May 3, 2023, the city street vendor committee approved displaying the list of authorised street vendors. On June 15, the BMC published on its website a list of 32,407 people who had completed the street vendor certification process as per the criteria. The deadline for submitting suggestions or objections to the ward offices concerned was July 14. The suggestions were supposed to be scrutinised at the ward level within two weeks and the final report was to be tabled by the committee. The final list was to be sent to the labour commissioner in order to commence the election of representatives of hawkers who will be included in the TVC, which ultimately decides to allot licences to vendors. But even after 42 days, the process of scrutinisation of suggestions at the ward level hasn't been completed. "We are waiting for the reports from wards. We will send it to the labour commissioner after we receive it," said an official from the BMC.

Dayashankar Singh, president of Azad Hawkers Union, alleged, "Whatever R10,000 loan hawkers get from the government, the BMC and police take away as a fine. Instead of giving loans, if the authorities allow hawkers to do their business, the latter will donate R10,000 yearly in the PM CARES Fund."

Applications for PM SVANidhi scheme have been made available online at pmsvanidhi.mohua.gov.in. Street vendors who have not yet availed of the self-financing scheme can contact the senior inspector (encroachment elimination) in the ward office concerned. As per the provisions of Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Street Vending Exchange) Act 2014, Maharashtra Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) (Maharashtra) Rules, 2016 as well as the direction of the high court, the BMC carried a survey of hawkers in the city in 2016.

2016
Year hawker survey was carried out