Mumbai: Three years later, hawkers’ policy work takes off

The hawkers' policy, which has been stuck since 2019, is finally moving forward, according to BMC authorities.

The Town Vending Committee was unable to hold a crucial meeting on Tuesday, however, they are confident that there won't be any more delays.

A civic official told Mid Day that the meeting was called off due to some last-minute changes and it will be rescheduled soon.

The Town Vending Committee (TVC), established five years ago, was invited to a meeting on Tuesday by the BMC to receive clearance for a list of hawkers.

Almost 16,000 hawkers were examined by the BMC based on domicile criteria and other documentation. Following the state government's repeal of the domicile rule, the BMC once more reviewed the hawkers' names and created a fresh list. The BMC is considering holding an election among these hawkers to elect their representative in the TVC.

List will be published in public domain

Following the approval of the TVC, the list will be published in the public domain for suggestions and objections from hawkers and unions concerned.

After the list has been finalised, the labour commissioner will conduct the election, the official said.

In 2014, the BMC had conducted a survey of hawkers in Mumbai where 99,000 applications had been filed. However, many applications were rejected because the applicants did not submit domicile certificates and other relevant documents. Moreover, several applications had not even been filled up properly.