Surat: Street vendors in large numbers took out a rally from Gandhi Pratima to Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) headquarters at Muglisara in the city on Tuesday and demanded that their right to earn their livelihood be not restricted. The rally was held under the aegis of National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), Surat unit. Its representatives later handed over memorandums to municipal commissioner and Mayor Dr Jagdish Patel.NASVI city unit president Shabbir Chahwala said, “We have demanded setting up of town vending committee and a survey to find out the exact number of vendors on city roads. We were told the administration will get back to us within a fortnight.”He claimed there were over one lakh vendors in the city and disputed SMC’s figure of 18,346 hawkers. Vendors want SMC workers and officers to not seize their fruits and flowers from no hawking zone and instead collect fine from them. Chahwala threatened that if SMC doesn’t take steps in their interests, they will file a contempt of court petition in Supreme Court.

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