The Congress on Saturday demanded total implementation of the Street Vendors Act of 2014 in the national capital, following an ongoing eviction drive against squatters in no-vending zones.The party said it will hold demonstrations outside the offices of the civic bodies in the national capital on October 13. "The Delhi Rehri-Patri Congress will hold demonstrations on October 13 outside the 12 zones of the Municipal Corporations of Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Council headquarters," Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken told reporters here.Maken said the poor street vendors were suffering because the Delhi government led by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hasn't fully implemented the Street Vendors' (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014."Thus, the street vendors are not only facing harassment from various agencies, but are also being illegally evicted," the Congress leader said.
"If the vendors are being evicted, then what was the purpose of conducting surveys?" Maken asked, adding that the surveys thus lose their relevance.Maken's remarks came three days after the Delhi High Court ruled that vendors can't be permitted in areas earmarked as no-hawking zones.
The Congress leader alleged that under the HC order's garb, in the past three days, the three MCDs and the NDMC have removed nearly 10,000 people even from the designated hawking zones.Maken and two NGOs have approached the HC to get a stay on the eviction drive, but the court on Friday refused to pass any interim direction and posted the matter for October 19.