CHENNAI: Street vendors across Tambaram City Municipal Corporation (TCMC) limits are facing increasing livelihood insecurity due to the lack of Town Vending Committee (TVC), a statutory body mandated under the Tamil Nadu Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme and Rules, 2015.
According to vendors’ associations, nearly 1,500 individuals depend on street vending for survival within Tambaram city, while the number rises to about 6,000 across the expanded TCMC, comprising 70 wards in five zones. However, since Tambaram was upgraded into a municipal corporation, the legally required committee has not been constituted.
The absence of such a committee has deprived vendors of a formal grievance redressal mechanism, exposing them to frequent eviction threats and harassment by multiple agencies, including civic officials, the highways department, traffic police and even private commercial establishments.
“Evictions are carried out without prior notice, and our goods are seized arbitrarily. We have no forum to raise our grievances,” said K Rajan Mani, president of Federation for Tambaram Street Vendors Associations.
Under the law, TVC is responsible for regulating street vending and safeguarding vendors’ livelihoods through a participatory framework involving local bodies, police, traders’ associations, NGOs and vendor representatives. Vendors, many of whom cater to lower-middle-class and economically weaker sections by selling essential goods, allege that the non-implementation of the law has resulted in arbitrary enforcement.
One of the major consequences of the missing committee is the non-issuance of identity cards to vendors. Without official vending certificates, they are unable to access institutional credit.
“Banks insist on vending IDs. In their absence, we are forced to borrow from private moneylenders at exorbitant interest rates to buy goods,” said P Muthaiyan, president of the Muthurengam Salai Street Vendors Association.
Vendor representatives said the committee, once constituted, is legally required to meet at least once every three months, providing a platform to raise grievances directly with officials. “At present, we approach authorities individually, but our issues remain unaddressed,” they said.
Responding to the concerns, TCMC officials told TNIE, on condition of anonymity, that officials from the town planning section are currently engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Once the process concludes with the release of the final electoral rolls on February 17, steps to constitute the Town Vending Committee will be initiated and vendors’ grievances addressed, officials added.