BMC Street Vendors' Election Records 49.46% Turnout; Results Held Back by Supreme Court Order

The elections for the Central Town Vending Committee and seven zonal committees (totaling eight committees) within the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) jurisdiction were held on August 29, 2024, with a voter turnout of 49.46%.

While the elections proceeded as scheduled, the results were withheld following directives from the Supreme Court.

"All ballot boxes have been securely stored in a strong room, and appropriate action will be taken once further instructions are received from the court," said a senior civic official.

The election was conducted under the provisions of the Central Government's Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, and the Maharashtra Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2016.

For the first time, over 32,000 street vendors participated in an election to choose their representatives for the Town Vending Committee (TVC), granting them a voice in policymaking and decision-making processes.

The TVC will consist of one central committee and seven zonal committees, each comprising 20 members. Of these, 12 will be nominated, and the remaining eight will be elected representatives of the hawkers. These representatives are selected through the election process.

A total of 237 candidates contested for membership in the eight committees, including 190 male and 47 female candidates. Notably, no candidates filed nominations for 10 of the 64 seats across the Apex Committee and the seven zonal committees. Furthermore, 17 candidates were elected unopposed as only one nomination was received for each of these seats.

Voting for the remaining 37 seats took place at 67 polling centers across various wards on August 29.

The total number of registered voters within the BMC jurisdiction is 32,415. Of these, an average of 49.46% participated in the elections for the Apex Committee and the seven zonal committees.

According to the pre-scheduled process, vote counting and result declaration were expected to follow immediately after the voting. However, the Supreme Court issued directives on August 28, 2024, instructing the withholding of vote counting and result announcements. In compliance with these directives, voting by registered street vendors took place on August 29, 2024, but counting and result declaration have been deferred. Further action will be taken once instructions are received from the Honorable Supreme Court. Until then, all ballot boxes will remain securely stored in a strong room.

According to the BMC, there were initially 10,388 licensed hawkers from the 1970s. In 2016, when BMC conducted a survey, they identified and distributed forms to 128,000 hawkers, of which 99,435 submitted applications with the required documents. Due to the state government making domicile certificates mandatory, only 15,361 hawkers were deemed eligible in 2019.

Following the relaxation of the domicile rule, the number of eligible hawkers has risen to 22,027. Currently, 32,415 registered street vendor voters are registered under BMC's jurisdiction.

Although the act was passed in 2014, the elections for hawkers' representatives in the TVC held in 2024, marking an eight-year delay.

Despite this progress, some street vendor unions remain opposed to the election, citing poor representation of hawkers. They argue that the actual number of hawkers is much higher, yet only 32,000 are eligible to vote. They claim that the actual number of hawkers is around 3 lakh. The Maharashtra Hawkers Union even approached the Supreme Court, which directed that the results be withheld.

Zone-wise voter turnout was recorded as follows:

Zone One - 43%,

Zone Two - 35.57%,

Zone Three - 49%,

Zone Four - 44.16%

Zone Five - 52.54%

Zone Six - 58.50%

Zone Seven - 63.51%.