Hawkers in Faridabad to get vending zones
LIVELIHOOD Over 50,000 vendors will be moved to designated selling areas from next month; project assigned to pvt company
FARIDABAD: In a bid to regulate street hawkers, over 50,000 vendors operating in different parts of Faridabad will be shifted to designated vending zones from next month. The step, aimed at providing social security and livelihood rights to street vendors, is also expected to help check traffic congestion in the city.
“The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad has decided to implement the Street Vendors Act, 2014, in Faridabad and the corporation has taken an initiative for streamlining street vendors in the city,” Mohammed Shayin, Commissioner of MCF, said at a press conference on Friday. “There are roughly 50,000 street vendors in Faridabad at present and the number may be even higher. We are prepared to accommodate all of them in the vending zones,” he said.
Under the project, the vendors will have to pay Rs 2,500 per month as fee to MCF, which will cover the cost of modernised carts, uniforms, health and accidental insurance cover and quarterly medical checkups.
The government has assigned a private company to implement the project in Faridabad. The same company has already been allotted a similar project in Gurugram. The project will begin from ward number 12 and 32 next month and within six months, all the street vendors will be shifted to separate vending zones, officials said. There are 40 wards in Faridabad’s municipal limits. The process to identify separate vending zones has started.
“The street vendors once allocated space in the vending zones cannot sell their wares outside,” the commissioner said, adding,“the possibility of slight resistance from certain quarters cannot be ruled out but we are ready to ensure the project is through.” There are reports that some mafia regulate most of such street vendors illegally by charging them hefty amounts. “The vendors will save money once they come into the new system as nobody will charge them illegally,” the officer said.
“Our agency will control adulteration and maintain general hygiene so that customers feel safe and secure of what they are eating,” a company official who was present at the conference said. The street vendors (protection of livelihood and regulation of street vending) Act 2014 is an act of Parliament enacted to regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their rights. The Bill received presidential assent on March 4, 2014 and the Act came in to force on May 1, 2014.