Bengaluru: Street vendors from across the city on Wednesday protested against the delay in distribution of ID cards to them by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The vendors, who are associated with the Bengaluru Jilla Beedhi Vyapari Sanghatanegala Okkuta, affiliated to AICCTU, protested in front of the BBMP head office against the delay by the Palike and underutilisation of funds allocated in the budget.
The city has over two lakh street vendors, while only 25,000 were identified from eight zones during the first phase of the drive, they said. Even the identified street vendors are yet to get their ID cards though the process was completed four months ago. “The s urvey was not done properly. From lakhs of vendors, they have identified a few thousands. When will they conduct the survey for the rest of the street vendors,” asked Vinay Sreenivasa of the Okkuta.
Earlier, the High Court, while ruling on a plea filed by Okkuta president S. Babu, had made it clear to the BBMP that ID cards should be issued before March 21.
Not even 1% of the budget allocated for the welfare of street vendors has been utilised, claimed the protesters. Vinay said the money allocated to provide facilities like toilets, pushcarts and drinking water is not being utilised.
Many street vendors from Vijayanagar said that they did not get any information on the construction of a Palika Bazaar-like market in their area, though they filed an RTI. “The new Palika Bazaar can fit in only 45 shops, while we are more than 150 street vendors at the market. The authorities are not sharing any information related to the construction of the new market,” said Babu.
Other street vendors from Shivajinagar, Gandhi Bazaar and Jayanagar said that they are frequently being harassed and evicted forcefully.
Ms Lakshmi Devi, Deputy Commissioner Welfare (BBMP), said, “Steps will be taken to cover all the left out street vendors. ID cards will be given to identified street vendors before the poll code comes into effect.”
