The proposed vendors zone for street hawkers which was mooted decades ago is set to materialise with the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) submitting the proposals to establish three such facilities in its jurisdiction.
Sources in the MCC said it is proposed to have 9 such zones in each of the revenue divisions of the city corporation and the project will be funded under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY NULM). But out of 9, proposals have been submitted to establish three vendors zones and are likely to be approved after which the project will be implemented.
This is expected to provide a source of security and livelihood to the most vulnerable section among the traders who tend to be street vendors and hawkers. The three vendors zones that have been identified are going to come up in Ward Number 17, opposite St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bannimantap; on New Kantharaja Urs Road in Ward Number 56; and near the P and T Quarters, N.R.Mohalla in Ward Number 14, according to MCC officials.
The MCC has conducted extensive survey and has identified 1,800 street vendors who will benefit from the scheme and ID cards have been issued to them. Apart from identifying the vendors, social profiling is also being carried out to ensure that the most vulnerable section stand to benefit from the scheme. The MCC will maintain a database of the vendors with their permanent or temporary address so as to track them for monitoring the empowerment or progress achieved by the beneficiaries.
The vendors zone is being established as per the provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014. Similar facilities in the remaining revenue divisions will be taken up for implementation in a phase-wise manner.
The MCC has held extensive interaction and discussions with the potential beneficiaries for identification of a suitable place for establishing the zone. Recently, a two-day workshop was also conducted for the capacity building of the beneficiaries who include push-cart vendors, those running roadside eateries, and fruits, vegetables and flower vendors..
The objective of the DAY-NULM is to address livelihood issues of the vendors by providing space to carry out their trades besides ensuring institutional lending without entailing security. The workshop conducted was part of an effort to enhance their skills so as to increase their turnover.
For the street vendors this is also a source of security as there is no fear of eviction. As per the project the MCC has to provide infrastructure that includes water supply, toilets, waste disposal facility, lighting, storage space, temporary sheds or kiosks etc, said the officials.
