Hawker registration figure unbelievably low: Activists

Times of India: Mumbai: Wednesday, July 30, 2014.

Citizen activists seem to be surprised at the BMC's claim that it has distributed only Rs 1.25 lakh hawker registration forms during the 10-day drive that ended on Monday.

While a section of them say that the figure itself appears to be fictitious, others are of the opinion that the civic body might not have covered all the areas and just distributed the forms in prime market zones or commercial-cum-residential areas.

According to the national policy on hawking, licences can be issued to 2.5% of the total population of a city. For Mumbai, it works out to around 3.2 lakh vendors, if they can be provided the area. Anandini Thakoor, member of the 17th Road Khar ALM said, "I accompanied the authorities while they had gone to the Santa Cruz station area. The speed at which they were distributing forms makes it difficult for us to believe that only 1 lakh forms were distributed in the city."

"Another reason could be that since hawker union leaders were also part of the form distribution process, BMC authorities could have been influenced by them and taken to those areas where they call the shots," Thakoor added.

However, another activist from Bandra ALM said that if the BMC had fudged the figures, they would be caught with the help of the RTI Act. "The number of hawkers at Hill Road itself that has cropped up in the past few days has been so much that there is something more %than what meets the eye," said the activist.

Viren Shah, president of Federation of Retail Traders Welfare association and member, Town Vending Committee, BMC said that prima facie it looked like the BMC had not at all reached all the hawkers in the city.

"There were several hawkers that cropped up during the registration drive and only just one lakh forms being distributed seems unbelievable," he said.

A few activists also said that since the forms were distributed, the BMC could have a review meeting to understand the happenings at the ground level. "A review meeting will help them understand the pros and cons of the entire exercise. It will also help them during the scrutiny of the forms," said Bharati Kakkad, secretary of Union Park Residents Association ALM.