NDMC issues vending certificates to 1,169 street vendors in Lutyens’ Delhi

NDMC finalises vending list with 1,169 eligible vendors, 1,381 ineligible. Associations say many were wrongly excluded; traders oppose new slots in key markets.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has started issuing Certificates of Vending (COVs) to 1,169 street vendors who are eligible for roadside vending in Lutyens’ Delhi as per the street vendors survey of the area, senior civic officials said.

The maximum number of vendors at 416 slots have been allocated for Sarojini Nagar market (HT Archive)

The civic body has also made 21 vending layout plans public at key commercial spaces like Connaught Place, Khan Market, Janpath, Kartavya Path, among others, where 1,614 slots have been earmarked. However, vendors associations have argued that a large number of vendors have been left out due to technicalities and minor mistakes and the real number of vendors should be much higher.

A senior civic official said the survey of New Delhi was completed in July, following which the data was made public for scrutiny in August. “Around 2,500 vendors were surveyed and the final list was further scrutinised by the town vending committee. Around 1,170 vendors have been found eligible whose certificates have been made available online. A second list of 1,381 vendors categorised as ineligible has also been uploaded and specific reasons will be provided for rejection,” official added.

The vending layout plans include key spaces like Khan Market with 60 slots, Connaught Place with 41 slots, Janpath with 91 slots, Kartavya Path with 125 vending slots, Palika Bazar with 90 slots, AIIMS Aurobindo Marg with 90 slots among others. The maximum number of vendors at 416 slots have been allocated for Sarojini Nagar market. “Maps of all these markets have been uploaded by marking the vending spaces. Stakeholders can file objections and suggestions about the location of these slots on the NDMC website,” an official said.

Besides, draft vending plans have also been made for Baba Khadak Singh Marg, Bapa Nagar Delhi High Court, Basrurkar Market, Begum Zaidi Market, Bhai Veer Singh Marg, East Kidwai Nagar, Jor Bagh Market, Kalawati Hospital, Kalibari Sabzi Mandi, Khanna Market, Laxmi Bai Nagar Market, Mohan Singh Place, Regal, Sarojini Nagar Market and UPSC Shahjahan Road.

Arvind Singh, who heads national association of street vendors of India (NASVI), said the 1,170 figure for street vendors in New Delhi is too low and the real count is much higher. “The survey has not been carried out as per the street vendors act to identify people and safeguard their livelihood. In 2007, NDMC had taken applications from more than 5,000 vendors. How can the number go down in the last decade? People have been rejected based on lack of residential proof, name not figuring in old challans, minor mismatches in name from documents which is common in the informal labour sector,” he added.

Singh said the vendors should have been consulted before fixing the slots. “For instance, in the case of Connaught Place, they have allocated all sites in the outer circle while the footfall is higher in the inner circle.”

On the other hand, market associations have objected to vendors being allocated slots. Ashok Randhawa, who heads the Sarojini Nagar mini market association said the traders’ association had filed 300 objections to the vendors list in the market but all of them have been ignored.

“They are not able to remove the illegal vendors and now 416 slots are being made in our service parking lots. So many of these people are new and they have not been in the market. There are 200 big shops in the market and 400 vending slots are being made. The market should not have more than 100-150 slots,” he added.