HYDERABAD: Petty vendors in Secunderabad Cantonment area can heave a sigh of relieve as the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) is coming up with ‘Teh-Bazari’ policy soon.
According to the new initiative, SCB officials will issue daily licenses to petty vendors like push-cart vendors and hawkers who sell their merchandise in flea markets. The daily licence will be issued at a nominal fee of Rs 10 a day.
The SCB has devised this initiative to facilitate petty vendors and flea markets to carry on their activities without disturbance.
“There will be more than 5,000 people from poor and lower-income backgrounds in the Cantonment area who make a living street vendors and hawkers. But most of these petty vendors face problems due to various restrictions. The lower-level staff of SCB and police exploit these poor self-employed people as they do not have any licence to do business. If SCB collects a stipulated fee and gives them permission to carry on their activities it will be a great relief to them,” said Anitha Prabhakar, an SCB member.
As complaints like these have been reaching higher officials regularly, the board has decided to introduce ‘Teh-Bazari’ licensing.
Not only petty vendors but flea markets have also been gaining popularity and growing in numbers of late in the Cantonment area. In places like West Marredpally, Mahendra Hills and Sikh Village, weekly flea markets have become common. The new Teh-Bazari daily licence system will not only help street vendors but also buyers in the neighbourhood.
“We want to ensure that all the petty vendors and self-employed small traders earn a living without hassles. By paying a nominal fee of Rs 10 per day they can carry on their business without fearing any official action or facing inconvenience. As they carry on their activity on a daily basis, we have a fixed licence fee for the day instead for a week or month.
On the day when the person does not carry out his business he need not pay,” said Sujatha Gupta, chief executive officer of SCB.