First meeting of the Town vending committee was held today. The meeting chaired by Sidharth Sihag deliberated on making vending a more organised affair in the city.

Mayor, Chandra Singh Kothari, said that we intend to organise street vendors so that they can earn their livelihood in an independent and hassle free manner. He said that this reorganisation and demarcation of vending zones was not done out of the volition of the municipal council but done at the behest of the Indian Government’s street vendor notification dated Feb 15, 2016.

Kirti Rathore, Deputy Commissioner, informed that in the initial phase, first zone comprising of Court Chauraha, MB Hospital, Shiksha Bhawan,  Swaroop Sagar, Radaji Chauraha, Rani Road, Rajiv Gandhi Park, Devali to Fatehsagar overflow, UIT , Mohta Park, Chetak Circle and Bhattji Bari will be demarcated into vending and no-vending zones.

Rathore said that area from Chetak Circle to Court Chauraha will be completely non-vending zone and there will be no fixed structure nor will there be vendor on feet. In the other areas, area demarcation will be done and coupons given to specific vendors and their family members will be registered.

Street vendor Guman Singh Rao raised concern over incorrect vendor survey. To this, Rathore said that external agencies had been nominated for this and they had done a thorough survey and post survey check to ensure correctness.

During the meeting, there were several other concerns that were raised by vendors and the same were either answered or taken a note of by the corporation members.

The mayor emphasised that municipal corporation and the vendors were not against each other but need to work in conjunction. He said that municipal corporation needs to look after the interests of 5 Lakh citizens of Udaipur besides the vendors. He ensured that no vendor will suffer livelihood loss.