'Will provide health benefits, security, loans to hawkers'

If the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2013, is passed, local bodies will have to speed up the process of making provision for hawkers, says Ajay Maken, Union housing and urban poverty alleviation minister. Reetika Subramanian reports.

If the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2013, is passed, local bodies will have to speed up the process of making provision for hawkers, says Ajay Maken, Union housing and urban poverty alleviation minister.

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How do you think granting licences to 2.5% of the total population of a city would tackle rising number of unlicensed hawkers and corruption?
By making it mandatory for local bodies to appoint a town planning committee as part of the proposed act, comprising representatives from hawkers' unions (40%), NGOs (10%) and officials and town planners (50%), we will be able to frame an inclusive and participative plan and earmark fixed hawking pitches to organise street vendors and reduce corruption.

Twenty-eight years after the SC came up with comprehensive guidelines, how do you intend to speed up the process of organising street vendors through this act?
We have made it mandatory for local self-government bodies to formulate and submit their plans to the Union government soon after the act is passed. During this interim period, no hawker will be fined. This will ensure that local bodies concerned speed up the entire planning process and make provisions for hawkers in the city.