Odisha’s COVID aid to street vendors leaves out thousands

BHUBANESHWAR: The COVID-19 monetary assistance announced by the Government of Odisha for the street vendors is yet to reach thousands. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha, sanctioned an amount of Rs 26.29 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for over 87,657 street vendors on June 8. However, since the responsibility of surveying and registering street vendors lies with the urban local bodies according to the Street Vendors Act 2014, over 4000 street vendors have been left unidentified. 

Over 10,000 street vendors are estimated to be in Cuttack. However, only 3,463 have been registered by the CMC. The civic body’s records for the street vendors was last updated in 2017. The local street vendors who did apply for the funding at the CMC office are yet to hear from the civic body. Mohammed Moquim, Member of Legislative Assembly, Barbati-Cuttack, claimed that the CMC did not conduct the survey properly and hence many vendors were dropped from the list. He pointed out that in the last five years, many have taken up street vending to survive in the hustle of the city’s urban landscape. 

On the other hand, Amrit Sarkar, Slum Improvement Officer, said that the CMC has been actively distributing COVID-19 funds to street vendors by making bank transfers. He added that apart from the registered vendors, over 2300 street vendors have been provided with the funding on the basis of letters of recommendation.