Mumbai: With one eye on BMC, BJP pushes hawkers’ policy

Hawkers outside Dadar West station. Pic/Ashish Raje

Mumbai's massive hawker bloc seems to be the new plank for BJP to win the civic elections. With the hawkers' issue simmering for a long time, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rajhans Singh last week met Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal, asking him to take a call on the much-debated and controversial hawking policy. Political analysts say the issue could get the north Indian votebank in favour of BJP.

The BMC needs to take a call, either here or there. It cannot sit on the fence. The hawkers' policy will decide the fate of so many of them. It is not just about hawking and allowing them space, but it is about employment and life," Singh told mid-day. He said citizens too would gain in a big way as the policy would get the scattered hawkers aligned properly and systematically.

Also read: Mumbai: Locals breathe free as Bandra roads are cleared of hawkers

Sources said during the last elections, the BJP tried to rake up the issue without much success, but given the political setting this time and no partner to compromise with, a decision on the hawkers policy may get the BJP a large number of north Indian votes.

Rajhans Singh led a BJP delegation last week to meet Municipal Commissioner IS Chahal over the hawkers' policy

Political analyst Hemant Desai said this issue could get the north Indian lobby in favour of the BJP in the city. "This is the most awaited policy in civic circles. Everyone knows most of the hawkers belong to North India, from where come BJP's core voters. In Mumbai, this issue would bring them closer to BJP. Prior to 2014, the north Indian lobby was mostly with the Congress, but this time the picture is different. Any level of achievement on this policy issue would tip the scales in favour of the BJP as far as the city is concerned. Practically speaking, the policy is difficult to implement, but the BJP will definitely get enough brownie points if it gets the policy through on paper."

"There is no technical or planning difficulty in implementing the hawker's policy. The only difficulty is the willingness of political parties and the administrators to implement it. The BMC talks about the ‘Ease of Doing Business' for builders and big business, but makes it impossible for hawkers to do their business," said Hussain Indorewala, an urban researcher.

The policy
After the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act was passed in 2014 and the Supreme Court's order, the BMC started implementing the hawkers' policy, where hawkers would get designated spaces. The BMC distributed 1,28,443 forms among hawkers in 2016.

How many surveyed
According to civic statistics, a total of 1,28,433 hawkers in the city were surveyed in 2014 and of them, 99,435 applied for a vending licence. BMC had begun the process of allocating space for them and had published the first list of 15,361 eligible hawkers in 2019, identifying 30,832 pitches on the 404 roads across the city.

Why is it stuck?
At the law committee meeting held in October 2020, corporators demanded that they be made members in zonal level Town Vending Committees and passed a resolution accordingly. Since there is no provision to involve corporators in TVCs in the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the BMC sought clarity from the urban development department but is yet to receive a response.

1,28,433
No of hawkers surveyed in city in 2014

99,435
No of those among them who applied for a vending licence

15,361
No of eligible hawkers in list published by BMC in 2019