RTI reveals heavy amount spent on street vendors’ survey
3 May, 2013An application was filed with the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get the details of a survey conducted by MCG to ascertain the number of street hawkers in the city in 2011.
The reply to the query stated that a sum of Rs. 34 lakhs was spent on the survey. The reply said that the survey was conducted in compliance of the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors but the survey data provided in the reply did not show the details of the vendors like their contact records, the place where they put up their vends, their permanent address, etc.
The applicant then filed a complaint with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) alleging that the so called street hawkers’ survey was a farce and that it was never conducted in the field but rather was an armchair survey. The complaint alleged that no follow up action was taken for the betterment of the hawkers after the survey. The complainant also demanded to provide for weekly markets in MCG areas to help such vendors apart from assuring legal rights to them.
After receiving the complaint, the PMO had issued directions to the state government regarding the issue. The additional deputy commissioner of Gurgaon has now sought an explanation from the municipal corporation.