To be eligible for BMC licence, hawkers will have to answer 22 questions

At a meeting of the town vending committee, which comprises civic officials, hawkers’ representatives and resident unions, the hawkers were given a four-page form with 22 questions to be filled up before they could be considered eligible for a hawker’s licence.

The panel was set in December last year to devise a policy for the hawkers in the city. The list of questions include place of residence, current employment, personal details and annual income of the family, among others. Expressing their disapproval, representatives from the hawkers’ union said the process was lengthy and repetitive.

While the National Hawkers Policy, 2009, does not mandate the specific questions, the BMC has devised the list, which has to be filled up by 1.2 lakh hawkers in the city.

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Civic official said a city-wide survey to list the number of hawkers will be conducted soon. Meanwhile, the hawkers’ unions have said the exercise will be futile as the list and data on the number and names of hawkers already existed with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and the Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA).

“A 1996 TISS and YUVA survey already lists around 1.2 lakh hawkers in the city. This exercise will prove time-consuming,” said Saiyyad Haider Imam, member of the hawkers union of the All India Trade Union Congress. A five member team will be constituted to survey the hawkers in the city. Representatives of the hawkers’ union said that the committee should also represent hawkers.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com