JOIN US The South Corporation has started a survey to identify the number of Mother Dairy milk booths and Safal fruit and vegetable outlets in its areas as part of a proposal to bring them under the trade licensing net.
Unpaid fee
The action was taken after the civic agency found out that the Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) kiosks, which were supposed to pay Rs 10 per outlet, have not paid the paltry licence fee since 2004, said a senior official with South Delhi Municipal Corporation.“The proposal is aimed at ensuring that all these outlets follow municipal laws like all other shops. It may also end up raising the civic agency’s revenue,” said an official in the licensing department, adding that there could be over 3,000 such outlets in the city.
Long discussions
A member of the standing committee of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation said that long discussions had been on to bring the Mother Dairy outlets, which are not contributing too much to the civic agency’s revenue, under an arrangement that yields more funds.
“Mother Dairy is a private company with commercial interests. Why should it be given concessions on licence terms when all other establishments in the city are made to follow a certain set of rules?” he said.
The standing committee member said that a final decision on the proposal will be taken only after assessing the number of such outlets and the scope for enhancing the civic agency’s revenue through them.
Another councillor, who did not wish to be named, said, “The DMS is a central government entity. In its case any communication would have to be done through the union government.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic agency may go soft against the DMS as the party’s own government is now in power in the Centre, he said.
Sources in the corporation said that Mother Dairy and Safal outlets, whose exact number is not yet known, may also not have renewed their trading licences to sell milk and other products. “We have been asked to conduct a survey to identify the total number of Mother Dairy and Safal booths operation under our zone,” said an official with Central Zone.