Maken meets LG over eviction of vendors

A delegation of Delhi Congress leaders on Friday met Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and sought his intervention into the alleged illegal eviction of street vendors in the city by municipal and police authorities.

The delegation was led by Ajay Maken, the party's Delhi unit chief and accompanied by representatives of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI).

They claimed that nearly 15,000 street vendors were evicted from 17 different areas of Delhi last month and demanded that they should be reinstated.

They submitted a memorandum to the LG in this regard.

Maken alleged that despite protection given by the Street Vendors Act, the community was being "victimised and illegally evicted" by municipal and police authorities on a daily basis.

He claimed that at present, Town Vending Committee' (TVC) have not been constituted as the rules pertaining to their constitution are pending consideration before the Delhi government, according to a statement issued by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC).

Maken said if the five lakh street vendors are given licences in Delhi and Rs 1,000 each is charged from them as licence fee, the government could earn Rs 600 crore in taxes annually.

"That money could be utilised for the development of Delhi by the municipal corporations. Non-implementation of the Street Vendors Act has given a free reign to the corruption mafia," the DPCC chief said. Maken claimed that the LG assured the delegation that he would take appropriate action in the matter.