New Delhi: Polling for the constitution of 23 Town Vending Committees (TVCs) across 12 MCD zones concluded Sunday. While nearly 90,000 registered street vendors were eligible to vote, a turnout of around 41% was recorded. Counting of votes will begin at 8am on Aug 4.The elections, conducted under Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 and Delhi Street Vendors Rules, 2017, are expected to pave the way for the formation of long-pending statutory committees responsible for regulating street vending, preparing vending plans, allocating spaces for vendors and identifying vending and no-vending zones.The civic body earlier notified a reservation roster for the 12 elected street vendor member seats in each committee. Separate ballot papers were used for various reserved categories, including SC, SC (women), OBC, OBC (women), notified minority community, persons with disabilities (unreserved), general (women) and general/unreserved.MCD set up 15 strong rooms and 17 counting centres for the exercise that was conducted under chief election officer and additional commissioner Sanjeev Mittal. It began at 8 am and concluded smoothly, with no law-and-order issues reported, officials said.However, National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) alleged that polling was marred by administrative and logistical issues in some areas. Arbind Singh, national coordinator of NASVI, claimed several vendors possessing valid documents and certificates of vending (CoVs) could not vote because their names were missing from the rolls. He also alleged inadequate information about polling locations led to some vendors reaching the wrong stations.According to NASVI, overcrowding was reported in a few TVC areas, particularly Madanpur Khadar-Harkesh Nagar, where only one polling booth was set up. It also alleged that polling in Civil Lines Zone was cancelled following complaints of large-scale irregularities, while concerns were also raised regarding Green Park TVC area.However, MCD said it didn’t find any irregularity in its preliminary report.The elections come after years of delay due to repeated surveys of vendors, disputes over voter eligibility and delays in finalising vending plans. The process has been monitored by Delhi HC. The new committee will include nominated members from govt departments and other stakeholders.
