Licence to 2,860 street vendors to be issued soon Rajinder Nagarkoti Panchkula, April 21 Encroachment by vendors Residents complained to the Haryana Urban Development Authority, the Municipal Corporation and the district administration regarding encroachments on roads by vendors. Residents had complained that vendors had encroached upon every possible space in the town. Four postgraduates among vendors Among 2,860 street vendors in Panchkula, four are postgraduates and 58 graduates. As many as 54 per cent street vendors did not attend school whereas 10 per cent attended school only till primary classes. While the Panchkula Municipal Corporation is finalising the street vending policy, the civic body has identified 24 places in Panchkula for street vending. The MC will rehabilitate around 2,860 street vendors in these sites. The proposal will soon be finalised by the Town Vending Committee of the Panchkula. The Panchkula MC Commissioner, Rajesh Jogpal, said the policy was in final stages and soon they would start issuing licenses to vendors in Panchkula. Of these 2,860 vendors, 40 are mobile vendors who move from one place to other, whereas the remaining vendors operate from the fixed place only. The 24 places will be in sectors 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12 A, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, and industrial area. A senior MC official said after the licences would be given to street vendors, they would allow illegal vendors to operate from Panchkula. A private company from New Delhi was given the work of carrying out the survey. A mobile-based application using GIS mapping with digital photograph of vendors was employed in the survey conducted under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act-2014. As per Section 3 (III) of the Act, no street vendor will be evicted or re-allocated from his/her place of livelihood till the survey is completed. The District Town Planner has already been asked to identify and allocate six sites in Panchkula and two each in Kalka and Pinjore for street vendors. Notably, the Parliament had passed the Street Vendors’ (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, which guarantees them the right to work as street vendors. They can be evicted only as per provisions of the Act.

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