Hawkers could lose their right to vend along roads if they violate the rules framed for them, a mayoral council member in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) told 19 hawkers while handing them certificates of vending on Friday.
The certificate is a document that provides the hawkers with legal standing as street vendors. The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014, a central legislation, has made it mandatory for the local authorities to provide hawkers with the certificate.
While distributing the certificates, mayoral council member Debasish Kumar said possessing the certificates also amounts to a commitment on the part of hawkers to follow rules.
“Earlier, you had no certificates and there was little scope to take action. But the possession of certificates binds you to certain rules. Remember, you may lose these certificates and also the right to vend if you violate the rules,” Kumar, who is also one of the co-chairpersons of Kolkata’s town vending committee, said.
The 2014 act empowers town vending committees to take all decisions regarding hawkers — such as identifying them, issuing them certificates and penalising them for violation of rules — in the respective towns and cities.
A hawker with a certificate will have to pay Rs 800 as an annual charge to the KMC — Rs 300 as conservancy fee and Rs 500 as annual user fee.
50ft from 58 crossings: A member of the vending committee, which met on Friday, said a list of 58 busy crossings in the city was distributed among the members. Hawkers are not allowed to occupy pavements within 50ft of these crossings.
An police officer, who attended the meeting, was handed the list of the 58 crossings.
“The police, with help from members of the committee, will conduct a survey and prepare a report on how many stalls are there within 50ft of these crossings. The report will be tabled during the next meeting of the vending committee, the date of which is yet to be fixed,” said the official.
Mayor Firhad Hakim had said on August 4 that hawkers should not set up stalls within 50m from crossings. But Kumar said on Friday the committee had decided to keep 50ft from the 58 crossings free of stalls.
The Gariahat, Rashbehari, Shyambazar and Hatibagan intersections are among the 58 crossings.