MCC evicts street vendors, city activist writes to NHRC

Street vendors in the heart of the city who were evicted by Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) have now moved National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking justice.

Syed Tanveeruddin, a city-based civic activist, has sent the detailed complaint to NHRC office at New Delhi through registered post on December 5. The complaint is expected to reach the office by Tuesday.

Tanveeruddin claims to have submitted a six-page complaint, a copy of which is available with Deccan Herald, along with documents consisting of 19 pages as enclosures.  The street vendors and hawkers of Mysuru or Mysuru district street vendors association (MDVSA), behind Vani Vilas Market, KR Mohalla are listed as victims. The association is affiliated to National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI)

According to Tanveeruddin, the recent complaint is in addition to the similar initiative taken earlier in the year 2011, when a complaint was lodged with the commission against both the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and the police department for harassing the street vendors in the name of developmental works.

Tanveeruddin told Deccan Herald, “It was a deliberate attempt on the part of the civic authorities to evict street vendors in central business district. Though the authorities were quick to wash their hands identifying places suitable according to them (officials) to rehabilitate the vendors. A majority of the affected vendors are food vendors who have been victimised citing the common reason—littering  the place with left overs and other types of waste.

Tanveeruddin said, it was no valid reason to evict the food vendors. He has enclosed the letter correspondence between Bhaskar Srinivas Raje Urs, vice president of NASVI and secretary of MDVSA and various officers at the city corporation over ‘arbitrary demolition and razing of business shops and sales materials’ (mentioned as letter’s subject) on October 16. Prior to that on October 13, a letter had been written to MCC Commissioner C G Betsurmath alleging eviction and continuous harassment of the street vendors at the south gate of Mysuru Palace.

When the complaint was made in 2011, it was referred to Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC), which strangely pursued the complaint against police department only.

The complaint was closed in June 2014. The police department had adduced that the MCC’s ongoing road widening works had resulted in shrinking footpath space, which was found satisfactory by the commission in concluding the case.