Chandigarh first city to resettle its street vendors

CHANDIGARH: The city becomes first to resettle street vendors in the separate marked zones, although it took two years. The exercise meets nine conditions of the Street Vending Act, 2014, while the 10th parameter of grievance redress mechanism is in the works.


The private company hired to survey 21,000-odd street vendors in 2017 shortlisted 9,000 as eligible to participate in the four-phase draw of lots.

Still 2000-odd registered street vendors squandered multiple chances to pay a trade-defined monthly fee to the municipal corporation and lost their licence. In the end, only 7,200 vendors received the certificate.

A few months ago in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, Chandigarh presented its case study of implementing the Street Vendor Act to officials from the urban affairs ministry. After MC social development officer Vivek Trivedi explained to them the process, the ministry appreciated the system of payment through e-Sampark as model for the other states. It was big praise for the city.

The vendors were divided into three categories—non-essential service providers (non-ESP), ESPs, and mobile. Then, 4,284 vendors from the non-ESP group received vending sites in different sectors. The ESP group had 1,813 vendors and the mobile category had 866. Municipal commissioner K K Yadav said: “We have followed every provision of the Street Vending Act with sincere effort and collaborated with authorities concerned and all stakeholders for the peaceful resettlement of street sellers.”

The UT engineering department will build an Open Hand emblem in the Sector 17 Plaza under a beautification plan.