MCC holds capacity building training programme for street vendors

Mysore/Mysuru: “For the benefit of roadside vendors, exclusive hawker zones will be established at three places in city for which the Government has approved Rs. 2.97 crore out of which 50 percent of the grant has been released,” said Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy.

He was speaking during the inauguration of the two-day capacity building training programme for roadside vendors held under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) at Vidyashankar Kalyana Mantap in city on Monday.

Continuing, Reddy said that hawker zones will be established in all nine zones of the MCC and a proposal has been sent to the Government. “The Government has approved three hawker zones for this year and has released the grant. Hence, tenders have been called for the establishment of three hawker zones including the one near Ballal Circle. Once the tender process is completed, establishment of the three hawker zones would be taken up,” he said.

Inaugurating the programme, In-charge Mayor Sunanda Palanetra said, the training is being imparted for the benefit of roadside vendors and called upon them to follow the guidelines and rules of the MCC and co-operate with the civic body for their development.

Senior Civil Judge and District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) Member-Secretary Devaraj Bhoote, who was the chief guest, said that following Supreme Court directive, a law has been formulated for the livelihood of roadside vendors and added that the MCC has come forward for its effective implementation.

Push-cart vendors, small hotels and other street vendors should be identified by conducting a survey and they should be allowed to conduct business by following certain conditions for which the roadside vendors should obtain consent from the MCC and conduct business, the Civil Judge said.

Additional DC (Revenue) M.J. Roopa and other MCC officials were present.

It may be recalled that the MCC had already built a Hawker Zone at Ashoka Circle, popular as Ballal Circle in November 2017 itself and the MCC had completed the construction of platforms with basic amenities for vendors (mostly food vendors) to set up stalls. This exclusive hawker zone has drinking water, parking and proper waste disposal facilities. Even a toilet complex has been constructed for the benefit of all. The plan to construct dedicated hawker zones was mooted in 2004 and a six-member Committee was constituted to identify the  spots after a survey.