Asked to leave, CP vendors hold protest: ‘How will we run our homes, families?’

“How are we supposed to run our houses and families without any alternative means of employment?” asked Hansa, who was at the demonstration with her daughter. She has three children. Her husband helps with stitching the bags. All the bag sellers echoed the same concern — that they barely made any profits since the pandemic and they had high hopes from this Diwali season. On regular days, they sell 2-3 bags each and during Diwali, they had expected to sell at least 10-12 in a day.

The petition was filed in court by the New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA). The vendors said that their reason for doing this was because they sell cheaper items than the bigger shops and this affects their sales. “They plan to ruin the smaller shopkeepers,” they said.

Mahavir Jain (57), has been selling English novels at CP since the age of 17. Now, he says, he is struggling to pay for his children’s education. His son recently completed Class XII and his daughter is going to complete her LLB and pursue LLM. “Without a source of income, paying their fees is not possible,” he said.

Sandeep Verma of the National Hawker Federation threw light on Delhi Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2017, which prescribed the ‘manner of evicting a street vendor’. It states, “no street vendor must be evicted from the site of vending without prior notice, completion of registration process and formulation of a rehabilitation plan.”

In case of eviction, the vendor should be given a 15-day notice and a rehabilitation plan.

Most of the vendors said that they have NDMC challans, which prove that they were recognised by the body. They said that they would rather be relocated than be deprived of their livelihood.