2 weeks Ago By Alim Shaikh
Pune: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to maintain status quo regarding possession and functioning of street vendors in the civic limits until a process to accommodate them was completed. The court was hearing a petition filed by Maharashtra Pheriwala Krantikari Mahasangh , an organisation representing the vendors. The organisation had approached the court after PCMC did not conduct a survey and issue vendor certificates to the hawkers, following which the vendors were considered illegal and faced action during the civic body's anti-encroachment drive .
"The exercise to accommodate the 19,792 street vendors or 14,000 and odd street vendors, as pointed out by the learned counsel appearing for the respondent Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, is continuing. Until the exercise is completed, the parties shall maintain status quo with respect to possession and functioning of the street vendors," the Supreme Court bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta stated in the order. The court also directed PCMC to file the "up-to-date status of compliance" report within a week.
A senior PCMC official said they would not take any action against the street vendors following the court orders, and the process to issue them certificates would be prioritised. He said PCMC had during a survey last year identified 19,792 street vendors, of whom around 15,013 were found eligible for vendor certificates. "The survey was delayed in 2019 because of Covid pandemic.
Election for the street vendor committee was also delayed as the labour commissioner office expressed its inability to hold the polls and asked PCMC to conduct it," a PCMC official said. The civic body conducted the election in Oct last year and started issuing the vendors' certificates. "We have so far issued vendor and registration certificates, identity cards, and permits to 1,098 street vendors.
The process to issue the documents to the rest of the vendors is on," said Mukesh Kolap, assistant commissioner and head of the PCMC's land and estate department. He said the civic body has designated 42 places across the city for street vendors based on recommendations from the ward offices. "These places can accommodate 5,000-5,500 vendors.
We have asked the ward offices to identify more space," he said. Kashinath Nakhate, president of Maharashtra Pheriwala Krantikari Mahasangh, said the municipal corporation was conducting anti-encroachment action against all the vendors despite knowing that the survey and the process to issue the vendor certificates was delayed. He said, "The Supreme Court's order is a big relief for a large number of street vendors.
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