The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) led a protest of street vendors in Shimla’s Lakkar Bazaar against their eviction by the municipal corporation, demanding their livelihoods be protected and the Street Vendors Act be implemented.
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on Monday staged a protest at Lakkar Bazaar here against the “Shimla Municipal Corporation’s action to evict” street vendors, rehri-pheri workers and small traders from the area.
A large number of street vendors gathered at Lakkar Bazaar under the banner of the Tahbazari Union affiliated with CITU and raised slogans against the municipal corporation administration. During the protest, the vendors also set up their stalls and sold their goods at the site, despite the presence of police personnel, leading to a tense situation.
The protesters said they would not back down from their struggle to protect their livelihoods and asserted that no vendor should be removed without being provided an alternative and dignified vending arrangement. CITU state president Vijender Mehra, general secretary Prem Gautam, Shimla district secretary Amit Kumar, district treasurer Bal Ram and Vivek Kashyap accused the municipal corporation of targeting poor working people and depriving thousands of families dependent on street vending of their livelihoods.
CITU Questions Corporation’s Justification
They said thousands of families in Shimla have been earning their livelihood through street vending and small businesses for years and should not be treated as encroachers or a problem for the city. Protecting their employment and rights was the responsibility of the municipal corporation and the state government, they said. The CITU leaders questioned the civic body’s decision to remove vendors from Lakkar Bazaar, citing reasons such as the area being a sinking zone, obstruction to pedestrian movement and traffic congestion.
They alleged that the same space had subsequently been used by the municipal corporation as a parking area for its heavy vehicles, the release said. They claimed that the civic body’s own arguments had been exposed as contradictory, alleging that the parking of heavy vehicles at the site was neither obstructing public movement nor causing traffic congestion or any apparent ground-sinking problem. The union demanded that Lakkar Bazaar be retained as a vending zone as was the case earlier.
Union Demands Dialogue and Alternative Sites
The CITU said that if there were genuine concerns relating to traffic, fire safety or public order at any location, they should be addressed through dialogue and scientific planning rather than by depriving poor families of their livelihoods. The union demanded that vendors being removed from existing locations should first be provided alternative sites with adequate pedestrian and customer movement.
Concerns Over Proposed Vending Locations
Simply shifting vendors to places where customers do not visit, it said, would effectively amount to ending their livelihoods, the release noted. The union also questioned the arrangements to accommodate vendors at locations such as the roof of Aajivika Bhawan and Bhajji House, saying vendors had repeatedly raised concerns over the lack of adequate business opportunities at such sites.
Call for Legal Protection and Fair Treatment
CITU demanded full implementation of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. It called for a survey and registration of all eligible vendors, issuance of vending certificates and development of adequate and viable vending zones. The union also demanded an end to arbitrary challans, seizure of goods and alleged administrative harassment of street vendors. (ANI)
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