Mumbai: For the past 15 years, Shamim Sheikh has set up his cart selling women’s clothing on a street near Chembur railway station in Mumbai. Watching three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, Shaikh has always noticed how hawkers like him find mention in the manifestos of all political parties at the time of elections. Some schemes are offered to them or some promises are made, but most fail.
Therefore, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Mumbai in January, disbursed Loans of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh to hawkers under the newly launched PM Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi (Svanidhi) scheme were less than Sheikh expected.
After the central government announced the Swanidhi scheme last month, the BMC Selected Around 8,000 hawkers who will get this loan from each ward.
“What will I do with the loan?” asked the sheikh. “Even if I apply for it and get it, I have to pay interest on it. Then one day BMC will come and try to get us out of here, my goods will be confiscated or I will be fined. So anyway more money will go.
Hawkers like Sheikh are an integral part of Mumbai’s street culture. According to the Azad Hawkers Association, which represents hawkers across the city, they number around 5 lakh.
They are often caught in the political crosshairs, with all parties using them in some way or the other as part of their campaign strategy.
The Congress has traditionally sought to back street vendors and spoken of protecting their rights, while the BJP and Shiv Sena have in the past stressed the need to ensure they have licenses and domicile proofs. Let there be letters.
Parameshwar Kesari, a cloth hawker in Chembur for the past 27 years, says, “Politics is being done in our name. And it is not about the Shiv Sena, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) or the BJP. Everyone is here only for politics. Is.
BMC elections are expected to be held this year.
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‘Everyone is doing politics’
Since its inception, Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has been targeting North Indians in Mumbai and, by extension, the city’s many hawkers.
In 2017, MNS workers had sabotage Dozens of stalls in Santacruz, Kalyan and Dombivli after party chief Thackeray gave an ultimatum to evict “illegal” hawkers from railway stations.
In response to the aggressive stand of the MNS, its arch rival, the erstwhile Shiv Sena, Maintained A diplomatic stance on the issue over the years, expressing support for licensed hawkers in the city but remaining silent on the issue of illegal hawkers.
In 2017, the then BJP-Shiv Sena-led state government had Has agreed to hawker policy formulation And added that anyone who has a domicile certificate (proof that they have been living in the state for the past 15 years) will be considered for a hawking license.
However, according to a survey A survey conducted by the BMC in 2016 found only 15,361 out of 1,28,444 hawkers eligible to obtain a licence.
state government last year put an end to Domicile certificate requirement as a move that could boost the ruling coalition. Explaining the decision, the urban development department – which comes under chief minister Eknath Shinde – had said that since most of the hawkers were migrants, they would not be able to produce such certificates.
A reports Praja Foundation, an NGO working towards enabling accountable governance, said that in April 2022, “BJP in its manifesto promised provision of all facilities to hawkers and peddlers, NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) Had promised that exclusive hawker zones would be created, said INC (Indian National Congress) manifesto to reform hawker licences.
The report also states that the standing committee of the BMC received an average of 32 questions about hawkers from councilors every year between 2017 and 2021. However, only 6 per cent of these questions were from the four major parties BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP. ,
“We are distressed. Hawkers zone is not final, the survey which was done five-six years back has not been completed. No vending certificate has been issued, no party is taking care of us, everyone is doing politics,” said Jaishankar Singh, general secretary of Azad Hawkers Association.
Delay in bringing ‘hawker’ policy
The Supreme Court passed an order in 2013 to frame a policy on hawkers. Later in the year, Parliament passed the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act and in 2016 the BMC started surveying hawkers.
Bombay High Court is currently hearing a case related to illegal hawkers and has sought Information from BMC and State Government on current policy on hawkers operating outside hawking zone, obstructing the movement of pedestrians on the road.
Now, despite the introduction of Swanidhi, several hawkers ThePrint spoke to said they do not have high hopes.
“We hear about the policy in the news but nothing has been implemented so far,” said Parmeshwar Kesari, a garment seller. “It is vote bank politics, all talk and no work. There is always an atmosphere of fear as we wonder when the BMC will evict us.
Hanuman Prajapati, a street vendor for over five decades, says he is well aware of the ups and downs of this business. “We have no one to support us. But since I don’t have any other work, I will continue to do this work. No one thinks for us or our families.
ThePrint reached Ashish Sharma, Additional Municipal Commissioner of BMC, via phone and text messages, but did not receive a response at the time of publishing this report. The article will be updated once the response is received.
What do political parties have to say?
BJP hopes that Swanidhi will work for them in BMC elections.
“Others are not interested in the upliftment of hawkers, only in politics. The MVA government did not implement anything that would benefit the hawkers. PM Modi does research first and then announces a policy.
Meanwhile, the Congress claims to have fought for almost a decade to protect the rights of hawkers. Former MP and Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said, “I don’t know whether someone is doing politics or not, but I have fought for the rights of hawkers for almost 10 years and they should be given protection.” “The law has to be implemented by the BMC. The Shiv Sena has shown no willingness to implement the law, and the BJP was not keen either. But we do not need any political promise on this. Just enforce the law.
While the erstwhile Shiv Sena supported a regulation for hawkers, the BMC, the party which ruled it for 25 years, is yet to finalize the hawkers policy.
“Our policy is ready. The documents are ready but the case is going on in the court. We want to say that hawkers zone should be demarcated and there should be discipline. We understand that one person cannot take out an entire community. Their livelihood should be taken care of. They should also be given licences, but this should be done systematically,” Kishori Pednekar, former Mumbai mayor and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, told ThePrint.
(Editing by Zinnia Ray Chowdhury)