By: Ibni Maqbool
Srinagar: A parliamentary committee has reiterated its recommendation to the Government of India and the Jammu & Kashmir government to take expeditious steps to implement the various provisions of the street vendors (protection of livelihood and regulation of street vending) Act-2014 in the Union Territory.
In its report, a copy of which is lying with The Precious Kashmir, the standing committee on Housing & Urban Affairs has stated that J&K would require continuous hand holding, frequent reminders and monitoring of the progress of the implementation of the Act by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
“The committee appreciate the Ministry’s efforts to impress upon UT of Jammu & Kashmir to expeditiously implement the provisions of the Street Vendors Act and UT of Ladakh to notify the Scheme under the Act within the time frame prescribed in the Street Vendors Act, 2014 to enable the street vendors to carry out their business legitimately and to avail benefits under the schemes meant for welfare of the street vendors. They, however, apprehend that there may be many teething problems for the newly constituted UTs of J&K and Ladakh and considering that the jurisdiction of the Act was extended to these UTs recently, they would require continuous hand holding, frequent reminders and monitoring of the progress of the implementation of the Act by the Ministry,” reads the report.
It is worthwhile to mention that the Ministry, vide letter dated April 30, 2021, requested UT of Jammu & Kashmir to conduct survey, issue certificate of vending (CoV) and identity card to identified street vendors and to implement the provisions of Street Vendors Act, 2014.
The Government of Jammu & Kashmir has notified both the Rules and the Scheme under the law.
