02-09-2007, 04:01 AM
I think this is unwanted judicial activism.
Banning all roadside stalls, I think, is uncalled for. The better way would have been to enforce some hygiene and cleanliness in these shops. Making people to apply for licences would be a good idea. It would also save a lot of harressment for these hawkers. In New York (the city I am more familiar with. this could be in most big cities), hawkers are given food-handling license that is renewable every year. There are unannounced inspections and also people can complain to the NYC govt if unhygienic conditons exists. Now for Delhi, whole lot of people are going to become lawbreakers (the other option is to become unemployed!) and ofcourse the policemen are going to make a killing with hafta vasool (bribes)!
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Delhi delicacies go off the roadsÂ
Neelam Pandey | New Delhi
aam admi directed to buy packaged food
This is a recipe of trouble for citizens of Delhi. The ruling by the Supreme Court banning selling of food items on roadsides will severely affect a large number of office-goers and business class people who have thrived on such portable stalls for generations, especially in south and west Delhi areas.
Other than causing harassment to such people who never bothered about grabbing a bite or two, the ruling is also likely to generate a pool of unemployed people.Â
The New Delhi Municipal Council's Enforcement Department on Thursday said that they would comply with the court orders.
"We came to know about this order from the media. Though we are still waiting for the court's order we can say that the vendors who have been issued licence to do business will have to surrender it as per the requisites of the court orders," said RC Meena, director Enforcement, NDMC. Unperturbed by the plight of the people, including thousands of families earning their daily bread and butter from these eateries in the form of khomchas, rehris and food-stalls, the civic officials say that they have to comply with the orders of the court.
Take, for example, the heart of the city - Connaught Place or the bylanes of Walled City in Chandni Chowk. CP alone has several hawkers who cater to the chhole-bhature, curry-chawal, aloo-tikki appetites for thousands of people thronging the places from different parts of the city.
A majority of them are the office-goers who rely on these hawkers for their daily food consumption more than their homemade tiffins. Nonetheless, such eateries are also a hit with the tourists, especially the foreigners who at times relish on chaat, fried rice, paranthas or bread pakoras.
Decades-old hawkers selling paranthas, jalebis, and matar-samosas on the pavements of Chandni Chowk area too are feeling the pinch.
"We are here since years serving hot jalebis, paranthas and the special matar-samosa fried in fresh pure ghee. The moment we start packing these in plastics we will be degrading the food quality which too means an attack on the tehzib of Puraani Dilli," said Ahmed, a vendor in Chawri Bazar.
"Seldom do we bring food from home. This is the place we look forward during the lunch to share the delicious fried foods over a cup of chai. It is not only a problem for us but more for them (hawkers) who get a livelihood from these stalls spread on the pavements of Udyog Bhawan, Niram Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan or near Dholpur House ," said Kumar Ranjan, a Government employee in Udyog Bhawan.
The court's decision states that only packed food would be allowed for selling purposes. "I live in Ghaziabad and travel to Connaught Place every day. How can I cook food at home and carry such a large quantity of it? I cook according to the demand and even if I do carry such a large amount of food won't it go stale during the day, how would they check the hygienic condition then", questioned an angry hawker.
Street vendors at the Union Public Service Commission complain that though they have been given a shop by the NDMC but the size is so small that cooking inside the shop is not possible. NDMC Medical officer of Health SK Garg says "as far as our licensing is concerned we do not allow any cooking on roadside as that food is exposed to dust and flies. We have been encouraging these hawkers to sell packed food and have been issuing licence for the same for a long time". But the hawkers here expressed, "ab hum kahan jayen aur kahan se layenge roti apne bacchon ke liye".
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Banning all roadside stalls, I think, is uncalled for. The better way would have been to enforce some hygiene and cleanliness in these shops. Making people to apply for licences would be a good idea. It would also save a lot of harressment for these hawkers. In New York (the city I am more familiar with. this could be in most big cities), hawkers are given food-handling license that is renewable every year. There are unannounced inspections and also people can complain to the NYC govt if unhygienic conditons exists. Now for Delhi, whole lot of people are going to become lawbreakers (the other option is to become unemployed!) and ofcourse the policemen are going to make a killing with hafta vasool (bribes)!
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Delhi delicacies go off the roadsÂ
Neelam Pandey | New Delhi
aam admi directed to buy packaged food
This is a recipe of trouble for citizens of Delhi. The ruling by the Supreme Court banning selling of food items on roadsides will severely affect a large number of office-goers and business class people who have thrived on such portable stalls for generations, especially in south and west Delhi areas.
Other than causing harassment to such people who never bothered about grabbing a bite or two, the ruling is also likely to generate a pool of unemployed people.Â
The New Delhi Municipal Council's Enforcement Department on Thursday said that they would comply with the court orders.
"We came to know about this order from the media. Though we are still waiting for the court's order we can say that the vendors who have been issued licence to do business will have to surrender it as per the requisites of the court orders," said RC Meena, director Enforcement, NDMC. Unperturbed by the plight of the people, including thousands of families earning their daily bread and butter from these eateries in the form of khomchas, rehris and food-stalls, the civic officials say that they have to comply with the orders of the court.
Take, for example, the heart of the city - Connaught Place or the bylanes of Walled City in Chandni Chowk. CP alone has several hawkers who cater to the chhole-bhature, curry-chawal, aloo-tikki appetites for thousands of people thronging the places from different parts of the city.
A majority of them are the office-goers who rely on these hawkers for their daily food consumption more than their homemade tiffins. Nonetheless, such eateries are also a hit with the tourists, especially the foreigners who at times relish on chaat, fried rice, paranthas or bread pakoras.
Decades-old hawkers selling paranthas, jalebis, and matar-samosas on the pavements of Chandni Chowk area too are feeling the pinch.
"We are here since years serving hot jalebis, paranthas and the special matar-samosa fried in fresh pure ghee. The moment we start packing these in plastics we will be degrading the food quality which too means an attack on the tehzib of Puraani Dilli," said Ahmed, a vendor in Chawri Bazar.
"Seldom do we bring food from home. This is the place we look forward during the lunch to share the delicious fried foods over a cup of chai. It is not only a problem for us but more for them (hawkers) who get a livelihood from these stalls spread on the pavements of Udyog Bhawan, Niram Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan or near Dholpur House ," said Kumar Ranjan, a Government employee in Udyog Bhawan.
The court's decision states that only packed food would be allowed for selling purposes. "I live in Ghaziabad and travel to Connaught Place every day. How can I cook food at home and carry such a large quantity of it? I cook according to the demand and even if I do carry such a large amount of food won't it go stale during the day, how would they check the hygienic condition then", questioned an angry hawker.
Street vendors at the Union Public Service Commission complain that though they have been given a shop by the NDMC but the size is so small that cooking inside the shop is not possible. NDMC Medical officer of Health SK Garg says "as far as our licensing is concerned we do not allow any cooking on roadside as that food is exposed to dust and flies. We have been encouraging these hawkers to sell packed food and have been issuing licence for the same for a long time". But the hawkers here expressed, "ab hum kahan jayen aur kahan se layenge roti apne bacchon ke liye".
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->