4 postgrads, 58 grads among 1,562 street vendors in P’kula

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, February 4

Don’t be surprised if you come to know that the person who is serving you food at a stall in the busy markets of Panchkula is a postgraduate or a graduate.

One such person is Nitin (38), a law graduate who has been putting up a temporary food stall in Sector 7 for the past eight years. Himmat, who also runs a food stall in the same market, is a postgraduate. In the recent street vendors’ survey in Panchkula city, there are four postgraduates and 58 graduates among 1,562 street vendors.

Nitin said he had done law from Chandigarh and was running a food stall in Panchkula to earn his livelihood. “I am not ashamed and people should respect those who earn a livelihood by hard work,” says Nitin.

“The government should issue licences to vendors at the earliest,” he says.

Himmat, a postgraduate, says the MC has completed its survey and now it should issue licences so that they can work without any fear.

MC Commissioner Rajesh Jogpal said they had completed the survey in Panchkula city and the survey for Pinjore and Kalka was under way. The MC would organise a camp from February 8 to 10 in front of the MC office for left-out vendors, he said.

Rudhrabhishek Enterprises Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, was allotted the work of carrying out the survey. A mobile-based application using GIS mapping with digital photograph of vendors was employed in the survey conducted under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. As per Section 3 (III) of the Act, no street vendor will be evicted or re-allocated from his/her place of livelihood till the survey is completed. However, no vendor will cause any obstruction in the movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

The District Town Planner has already been asked to identify and allocate six sites in Panchkula and two each in Kalka and Pinjore for street vendors. Now, the report of the survey will be put up before the town-vending committee at its next meeting.