NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has impressed upon the chief ministers to take “personal” interest to ensure that the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors 2009 is vigorously and sincerely implemented by the state governments.

“As you are aware, Government of India has revised the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors formulated in the year 2004. The revised National Policy on Urban Street Vendors 2009 aims at ensuring that urban street vendors are given due recognition at national, state and local levels to pursue economic activity without harassment and at the same time, locations on which such activity is to be pursued are earmarked in zoning plans,” Singh wrote to chief ministers.

“The revised policy underscores the need for a legislative framework to enable street vendors to pursue a honest living without harassment from any quarter. Accordingly, a. Model Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2009 has also been drafted. The revised Policy and Model Bill have already been forwarded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation to the States/UTs.”

I would earnestly seek your personal intervention with regard to the following:

i) Implement the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors 2009 and taking into account the Model Bill take proactive action to enact a legislation to enable street vendors to ply their trade without harassment.

ii) Take steps to restructure Master Planning laws and City/Local Area Plans to make them ‘inclusive’ and address the requirements of space for street vending as an important urban activity. Suitable spatial planning “norms” for reservation of space for street vendors in accordance with their current population and projected growth may be devised.

iii) Ensure the demarcation of ‘Restriction-free Vending Zones’, ‘Restricted Vending Zones’, ‘No-vending Zones’ and ‘Mobile Vending Areas’ in every city/town, taking into account the natural propensity of street vendors to locate in certain places at certain times in response to patterns of demand for their goods/services or the formation of “natural markets”, traffic congestion and other factors in view.

iv) Take steps for convergent delivery of various Government programmes for the benefit of street vendors such as Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rojgar Yojana, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, Skill Development Initiative, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, National Social Assistance Programme and other welfare schemes.

“I hope you will take steps to accord a new deal to the urban street vendors as a group who need space and facilities for their legitimate activities,” he wrote. (ANI)