Kolkata: In the wake of reports concerning hawkers renting out their makeshift stalls and their occupied spaces on the pavement, KMC Mayor Firhad Hakim has warned against such acts, saying licences issued to hawkers are non-transferrable and it is only the Town Vending Committee that has the right to determine which hawker can sit where after one gives up his/her stall.
A resident of ward 01 called up the Mayor on Friday, complaining that she had bought a stall from a hawker at Shyambazar Gandhi Market. She said she bought it with Rs 1.5 lakh but she was assaulted and forced out of that space while her stall has been taken away. She cried to the Mayor that she is unable to earn a livelihood at the moment due to the same.
Hakim assured her that he would inform the OC of Shyampukur PS to arrest the individual who hijacked the stall.
Commenting on whether hawkers can rent or sell their stalls, Hakim said: “Hawkers cannot sell their makeshift stalls. For the sake of the poor, we have formulated the hawker policy. All decisions concerning which hawker will sit where are to be taken by the Town Vending Committee. Only the committee has the right to sell hawker spaces or stalls. We will give hawker enlistment licences to all hawkers in the city after identifying stall numbers.”
Hakim further clarified: “I will ask the Town Vending Committee to look into cases where hawkers are renting out their stalls or spaces. Strict action will be taken against anyone indulging in such an act. We will also take the help of the police in identification. Licences issued to hawkers are non-transferable.”
As part of its hawker policy, KMC has also been installing tin sheds at hawker zones to get rid of plastics while certain rules are being enforced which include hawkers having to free up two-thirds of the space on the pavement for pedestrians.