GCC to emunerate street vendors, help enrol them for State and Central schemes

According to a Chennai Corporation document, a consultant will be appointed to conduct the survey and classify them under three categories such as stationery, wandering, and mobile.

Vendors, who carry out vending regularly at a specific location, will be categorised as stationary vendors and those who carry out vending on foot and sell their goods and services using pushcarts or carry baskets will be categorised as wandering vendors. Vendors who move from place to place in their vehicles like bicycles or mobile units will be categorised as mobile vendors.

“During the survey, details including name, name of parents, permanent address, present address, identity proof, phone number, place of vending, time of vending, type of vending activity, time and duration of engagement as a vendor, Aadhaar No. (if available), blood group and others will be collected,” an official said.

Apart from identifying the street vendors, the civic body will also identify areas where street vendors have been profiled which may be classified as restriction-free, restricted and prohibited vending zones based on Street Vendors (Protection of livelihoods and regulation of street vending) Act, 2014.

The document added that vending map for the city will be prepared using GIS technology so that street vending plans could be prepared.

It may be noted that the civic body has issued identity cards to only 23,000 as per a survey conducted a few years ago. However, the city has more than 1 lakh street vendors, who are yet to be covered under the Act. Vendors who do not have identity cards could not avail of benefits under government schemes.

Under the PM SVANidhi scheme, street vendors with identity cards are entitled a collateral-free working capital loans of up to Rs 10,000.