Legislature Committee reviews condition of street vendors in Mysuru

The Legislature Committee on Subordinate Legislation headed by MLA S. R. Srinivas visited the Dufferin Clock Tower, popularly known as Chikkagadiyara, near Devaraja Market in Mysuru on Wednesday and interacted with the street vendors.

The members of the Committee heard the grievances of the street vendors, who were engaged in their daily business activities.

Mr. Srinivas later told reporters that instructions had been issued to the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to review the condition of the street vendors in the light of issues they were facing and take necessary measures to protect their interests.

The matter will be taken up with the officials of MCC again on Thursday.

Identity cards

With regard to the process of issuing identity cards to street vendors, Mr. Srinivas said a fresh tender had been invited to conduct a tender.

He attributed the delay to the failure of the agency that had been previously awarded the tender to properly conduct a survey.

Hence, strict instructions have been issued to the MCC Commissioner to ensure that the survey this time is conducted in a proper manner and identity cards are issued without fail to all eligible vendors, who had been left out earlier.

Mr. Srinivas pointed out that it was a matter of personal choice for the vendors to utilise the financial assistance and benefits provided by the government in a manner they deem appropriate to expand their businesses. 

However, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that the basic facilities and benefits provided by the State reach every eligible person. If any beneficiary does not receive such benefits, the government will have to establish a sincere and effective mechanism to ensure it reaches them.

Mr. Srinivas said another crucial meeting with the officials on the issue will be convened shortly to make the process of identifying street vendors and distributing government benefits to them more transparent.

During the inspection, Mr. Srinivas was accompanied by MLAs Darshan Dhruvanarayan and Harish Gowda, MLCs K. Shivakumar and Sharavan, besides Mysuru City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, MCC Commissioner Shaikh Tanveer Asif and officials from various other departments.