Congress promises licences to 5 lakh street vendors in Delhi MCD polls

New Delhi: The Congress today promised to provide licences to 5 lakh street vendors and implement the Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014 if it wins the upcoming civic polls.

In an interaction with street vendors in Jahangirpuri in outer Delhi, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said that as per the Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act 2014, 5 lakh street vendors (i.E. 2.5 per cent of the city's total population) should have been given licenses after identifying spaces for them, but "nothing has been done so far."

He also hit out at the BJP-ruled civic bodies for not taking any step for implementation of the Act.

"The street vendors should have been given spaces after identifying special vending zones, which would have freed them from harassment by the municipal authorities and the police.

"But the AAP government in Delhi and the Municipal Corporations of Delhi have not taken any action to implement the Street Vendors' Protection Act," he said.

With the MCD polls covering 272 wards of three municipal corporations due on April 23, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned to reach out to all sections of people, including street vendors.