Fact-finding report exposes ‘flaws’ in West Bengal eviction drive
Survey reveals violation of laws and lack of compensation for evicted street vendors
A footpath in Gariahat being cleared of hawkers after the CM said people had no place to walk on pavements in the State.
| Photo Credit: File Photo
A survey conducted across municipalities and civic bodies in West Bengal on the recent eviction drive has pointed out that neither were laws passed by the Assembly followed nor attempts made to compensate or rehabilitate hawkers and vendors.
Last month, the police and civic bodies swung into action and started evicting hawkers after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said hawkers were occupying streets and people had no place to walk. “No rehabilitation was provided during the eviction process, forcing many vendors to leave their vending locations and move elsewhere,” said the report, ‘Bulldozers vs. Livelihoods: Unmasking the Plight of West Bengal’s Street Vendors’.
The fact-finding report was made public on Friday by several organisations such as Right to Food and Work Campaign, West Bengal, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Amra Ek Sachetan Prayas, and workers unions in unorganised sectors. “Bulldozers or earth movers were utilised during evictions in towns such as Rampurhat, Bolpur, Burdwan, Durgapur, and English Bazar, among others,” the report said.
This was the first occasion in the recent past when bulldozers were out in the streets of West Bengal against street vendors. “The Bulldozer Rule continued even after June 26, despite the Chief Minister’s announcement to halt all actions for a month, with evictions being carried out and expedited with support from the ruling party,” the report said.
Subha Protim Roy Chowdhury, who has been associated with the report, said the team of surveyors interacted with the affected hawkers across 12 municipalities in the State.
“Evicted hawkers were in trauma, their family members were facing sleepless nights since the eviction drive started. In Durgapur, some hawkers said the evicted land was allotted to the muscleman of the ruling party for car parking. In Rampurhat, hawkers told us that if a new hawker market is constructed in future, then first the authorities will allot shops to their loyalist hawkers and then they will claim large sum of money for reallocation,” Mr. Chowdhury said.
Swapan Ganguly, of Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, one of the organisations behind the survey, said in every instance of street vendor eviction across the State, the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 was violated. The Act gives powers to town vending committees for management of hawkers, but such committees have not been operational in many parts of the State.
Advocate Purbayan Chakraborty, who was also associated with the survey, expressed surprise at the drive being suddenly taken up after Lok Sabha polls and added that such a move could have been politically motivated.
“What is evident from the survey is that for management of hawkers, municipalities will have to take responsibility and ensure that the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 is implemented in letter and spirit,” Mr. Chakraborty said.
The report also pointed out that some resistance by hawkers was evident at Rampurhat town, but it did not last more than a few days. Whereas in Suri Municipality, street vendors successfully resisted attempts to evict them. However, in most civic bodies, there was little or no resistance, as vendors were unsure how to respond to the sudden eviction drive.
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