In a major relief to street vendors of Mysuru, the State government has asked the district administration to put on hold the eviction drive against street vendors till a Grievance Redressal Committee is constituted to hear their woes.
The street vendors in the city were at the receiving end of an eviction drive by the civic- and police authorities as part of a “footpath encroachment clearance drive”.
N. Manjushree, Mission Director, National Livelihood Mission, Bengaluru, in a letter dated February 8, 2022, has asked the Deputy Commissioner to ensure that street vendors are not evicted form their places of vending till the Grievance Redressal Committee is constituted.
The National Livelihood Mission, Bengaluru, has already submitted a draft to the State on the constitution of the Grievance Redressal Committee. Till a notification is issued on the constitution of the Committee, the street vendors should not be evicted from their place of vending, Manjushree said in a letter referring to directions in the regard from the Karnataka High Court.
The street vendors of Mysuru were among the petitioners, who had moved the High Court not only complaining against eviction, but also seeking issue of Certificate of Vending in accordance with the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2004. A few members of the Association of Street Vendors, who had been issued with identity cards by the Town Vending Committee too had been evicted, contrary to law, the petitioners had submitted before the High Court.
With Section 20 of the Street Vendors Act 2004 providing for a dispute redressal mechanism under which the Government may appoint committees before whom the street vendors having a grievance or dispute can make an application, the High Court said the Committees should hear the parties and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law within four weeks.
While passing orders in the writ petition on December 21, 2021, the High Court had said that the members of the petitioners will not be evicted from their respective places of vending till the proceedings conclude.
Bhaskar Srinivasaraje Urs, President of Karnataka State Street Vendors Maha Mandala, said the Grievance Redressal Committees, which are to be headed by a retired civil judge or judicial magistrate, will also comprise two other professionals having such experience as may be prescribed for the purpose of deciding the applications. “No employee of the Government or the local authority shall be appointed as members of the Committee”, he said.
Mr. Urs told The Hindu that the MCC and police had begun indiscriminately evicting street vendors from different parts of Mysuru under the pretext of clearing footpaths, thereby depriving the street vendors of their only source of livelihood.
It may be mentioned here that the City Traffic Police had launched a drive against footpath encroachment in July last year by not only booking street vendors, but also vehicle owners, who had parked vehicles were encroaching the footpaths.
