New Delhi: Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is going to hold elections for the formation of town vending committees (TVCs) by the end of July.Officials said the proposal would first require approval of the House, following which the election schedule would be finalised and a notification would be issued. “We will start the process as soon as the nod is received. We have informed Delhi High Court that the elections would be conducted by July 21, so we are likely to complete the exercise around that timeline,” an official said.The civic body has completed the re-survey of pending street vendors and issued certificates of vending (CoVs). In Phase I, 62,333 certificates were issued till Dec 31, 2021. However, as all vendors were not covered, Delhi govt directed a fresh survey. In the second phase, around 22,000 more vendors were identified.The elected TVCs will have the authority to prepare vending plans, identify vending spaces, relocate vendors from congestion-prone areas, create designated vending and no-vending zones, and address issues such as traffic disruption. In areas such as Chandni Chowk and Sadar Bazaar, congestion caused by street vending has remained a persistent concern.“However, these vending plans will have to be notified by the competent authority before implementation,” the official said.Arbind Singh of National Association of Street Vendors of India said there was an urgent need to constitute TVCs. “Even after obtaining CoVs, vendors continue to face problems on a daily basis, despite their activities being governed by Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014 and Delhi Street Vending Scheme 2019,” he said.Around 27 committees will be formed across the city. Each committee will comprise 12 elected vendor representatives, while the remaining members will include experts, representatives of resident welfare and market associations, and voluntary organisations.Only vendors holding valid CoVs will be eligible to vote in the elections, for which MCD will prepare voter lists. The civic body has 250 wards across its 12 zones and, as per norms, at least one committee is to be formed for every eight wards.
