City street vendors in dire straits, livelihoods lost

City street vendors in dire straits, livelihoods lost

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, July 29, 2016: Scores of city street vendors staged a protest in front of the city corporation office at Lalbagh, on July 28, Thursday,  under the aegis of Centre for Indian Trade Union (CITU).

Addressing the protesters, Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M), Dakshina Kannada district unit secretary Vasanth Acharya described the drive against street vendors as anti-constitutional. Tiger, an emergency squad of the city corporation has been deployed only to target minnows like street vendors, he said.

The town vending committee involving vendors and officials has remained ineffective, with no meeting held since the past nine months.  Honorary president of Dakshina Kannada Jilla Beedibadi Vyaparasthara Sangha, Sunil Kumar Bajal said, "Though 1,600 street vendors were identified in a survey during 2014 and identity cards were issued to 208 vendors, they are yet to get their cards renewed since a year. In the second phase, though 350 vendors were listed for ID cards, they are yet to get the same."  Street vendors from different parts of the city took part in the protest.