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Srinagar MC to start census of street vendors this month
The census is aimed at registering the street vendors for centrally sponsored schemes and rehabilitating them into planned vending zones in Srinagar; the process is expected to last over a month
The Srinagar municipal corporation (MC) has decided to start a census of street vendors in the city for rehabilitating them and establishing vending zones.
Mayor Junaid Mattu said the civic body will start the exercise this month. “Srinagar MC will start a city-wide street vendor census this month to identify, classify and register street vendors in all 74 wards of the city,” Mattu said in a tweet.
He said this will form the basis for their rehabilitation and establishment of flea markets and vending or non-vending zones in the city. “And (this will) also ensure the success of PM-SVANidhi,” he said.
Last June, the Ministry of housing and urban affairs had launched the PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) for providing affordable loans upto ₹10,000 to street vendors, hawkers or cart pullers selling vegetables, fruits, street food, apparel etc. The aim was to help them resume their business after the Covid-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns adversely impacted their livelihood.
The Srinagar MC is mulling to identify some major vending zones for the rehabilitation of the street vendors.
Deputy mayor Parvaiz Qadri said after PM SVANidhi was launched last year, they were not able to register the street vendors for the scheme fully as there was no official data on their numbers and types.
He said the census will not only help them register people for centrally sponsored schemes but also help in rehabilitation of people in this unorganised sector.
“There is also an increased demand to de-clutter our city’s major markets. The street vendors are a major cause of congestion, roadblocks and traffic snarls. We are planning to set up some vending zones in the city where their vendors can be rehabilitated,” he said.
Qadri added the data will help them know how many vending zones are needed to accommodate these street vendors.
“We are primarily looking at major markets such as Parimpora, Batamaloo, Hari Singh High Street, Sarai Bala and Nawhatta where these vendors are present in good numbers. The exercise will take some time, at least over a month,” he said.
He said there is already a vending zone like Mecca Market in the city and another one has been set up near Kashmir Haat, where they have been installing kiosks for registered vendors. “We are attempting to rehabilitate every vendor,” he said.
In May, the government, in its annual report showcasing major initiatives undertaken during 2020-21, had stated that it had provided a special credit facility for street vendors with an initial working capital of ₹1,000. It was disbursed to 11,276 cases under PM-SVANidhi Scheme, the government had stated.
