Tehbazari along Blue Bells School boundary and opposite LSR College, right in front of the Police Booth of GK-1 Police Station on 05.02.2021. Photo by our special correspondent. The rules regarding Tehbazari keep evolving with Time, Law and Politics. I am not commenting on the legality of the practice. As per SDMC website following types of Tehbazari
licenses are given.
S. No. Tehbazari Type Annual Permit Charges (Rs.)
Every day driving from Nehru Place to Moolchand on Lala Lajpat Rai Road you will find the traffic suddenly chokes as you cross Zamrudpur village on your left. The boundary wall of Blue Bells School suddenly gets populated after 2 pm with about 80 to 100 street vendors trying to sell vegetables on their mobile Rikshaw based platform. This Tehbazari is probably not licensed. The MCD would not give license along the boundary wall of a school and opposite LSR (Lady Shri Ram College for Women). Yet it happens daily.
A casual talk with some “ Rehri/ Patri Walas” revealed that they allegedly pay about Rs 50 per day to park there for half a day to a local contractor. Interestingly he gave a breakdown of this contribution. Rs 30 for Police, Rs 10 for SDMC, Rs 10 for Safaiwala (Cleaning the place). While Rs 10 for cleaning services is understandable the rest Rs 40 for about 80 vendors comes to Rs 3200 per day or Rs 99,200 per month. Thus this negligence is worth about Rs One Lac per month if the local government agencies turn a blind eye.
It is unlikely that the SDMC will ever give a license for Tehbazari along the wall of a School which is also opposite the famous LSR College for reasons of safety of our students, and on the major road to generate traffic jams.
The environment around a School and women’s college should be sanitized so that any antisocial element loitering around are visible. Tehbazari crowd can easily hide criminals.
The traffic jam especially during office closing hours creates its own harassment. It is unlikely that this has the official blessings of our Traffic police.
The moral question of providing livelihood to the poor vendors in this Pandemic Season is an open question where the Government has to balance conflicting requirements of its citizens. While the debate will go on, whether the Government should allow or ban Tehbazari at this location; either way the practice of sucking the poorest of poor street vendors by a lac rupees every month should stop.
By our Special Correspondent
