A large number of hawkers kept their businesses shut to protest anti-encroachment drive in Kolhapur
Raghunath Kamble, president of the Hawkers Association in Kolhapur, said, “To protect the rights of hawkers and regulate street vending, the Central Government has implemented the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihoods and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, and the Maharashtra Government has prepared Rules, 2016 and Scheme, 2017 under it. Despite repeated representations to the municipal corporation and govt authorities, their grievances remained unresolved due to the non-implementation of the required statutory mechanism, he added.
Kamble said there was a significant discrepancy in earlier surveys on the number of hawkers in Kolhapur, with several vendors missing from the list. He said eligible hawkers must be correctly identified and their rights protected under the law. Kolhapur : Hawkers, street vendors, vegetable sellers, cabin holders and fruit vendors took out a protest march to the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Friday, keeping their businesses shut, to oppose anti-encroachment action allegedly taken without implementing the National Hawker Policy.