Street vendors term main road ban by Greater Bengaluru Authority a ‘betrayal’

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Pragathi Para Beedhi Vyaparigala Sangha on Saturday condemned the state government’s proposed policy to ban street vending on arterial and sub-arterial roads, labeling the move a “betrayal of the poor” and a conspiracy to reserve the city for the wealthy.

The association warned of city-wide protests if the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) does not immediately withdraw the proposal. The standoff follows Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s Friday announcement that a new policy would restrict vendors to designated zones to clear footpaths for pedestrians.

Illegal and unconstitutional

The association argued that the blanket ban violates the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. “The law clearly permits vending on streets and mandates that any such decision must be taken by Town Vending Committees (TVCs). However, these committees haven’t even been constituted in the new municipal bodies,” the association stated.

They further alleged that the government is punishing vendors for its own administrative failures. Despite the law being a decade old, thousands of vendors are yet to receive identity cards or be included in official surveys.

Challenging the narrative that vendors are the primary hurdle for pedestrians, the association pointed to the city’s 63 lakh private vehicles. They claimed that road-widening for cars has eaten into footpath space, while encroachments by hotels, illegal transformers, and private parking by wealthy residents are the actual culprits. “A city that provides free parking for the rich cannot claim there is no space for the livelihoods of the poor,” the association said.

Vulnerable groups hit

The association highlighted that the rule requiring vendors to take their carts home every night would disproportionately impact senior citizens and those living in cramped rented houses. “Bengaluru cannot become a ‘world-class city’ by erasing its vendors. We demand an immediate end to all evictions and the full implementation of the 2014 Act,” the association added