Eke Out a Living ( aka, “ Papi Pet ke Khatir “ )

 

Context :

Headline in Mumbai Mirror of 01 May 2022 :

“ Hafta for hawkers can vary from Rs 1,500 to Rs 25,000 a month “

Extract :

Footpaths have real estate value. In Mumbai, street sellers pay off Civic employees in an organized way depending on locality and goods sold . Everyone in the system wants a share of hafta pie

How a well-oiled system of “ hafta “ collection works on city streets

#   Powai……………………………………. ………………….Rs 25,000 / month to park a tempo

#   Dadar ( Ranade Road-Senapati Bapat Marg )……Rs 150-800 / day

#   Worli ( Currey Road )………………………………………… Rs 300 – 800 / day

#   Lower Parel ( outside Malls-Corporate Offices )…Rs 150 / day

#   Byculla Market……………………………………………………..Rs 3,000 – 3,500 / month

 

A ‘hafta’ system haunts hawkers in Mumbai   /  Citizen Matters  /  05 April 2022

 

Extract :

Varsha, a hawker sitting beside Haseena, selling occasion wear, corroborates this. She adds that the fee goes up to Rs 200 at Naya Nagar in Mira Road and near Santacruz station, where she goes on Saturdays and Thursdays respectively. A third hawker with a semi-permanent shop, who did not want to be named, alleged that he had to pay Rs 120 per week to sell clothes on Linking Road in Bandra.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started to use a pauti system in 1988, in lieu of licences. The fee, which started at Rs 5 – Rs 15 and went upto Rs 30 – Rs 100, was called “unauthorised occupation cum refuse removal charges.” The hawkers’ illegal, or “unauthorised,” status did not change under this system, but the recognition gave them some legitimacy to the space they occupied. The system was also lucrative for the corporation, reportedly earning them up to Rs 146 crores every year.

At the time in 1997, a survey by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and the non-profit YUVA, in collaboration with the BMC, found that there were over 1,03,000 hawkers in Mumbai. 15,000 had old licences issued before 1950, while 22,000 were issued pautis.

 

A conservative estimate of Rs 50 given by each of the 3 lakh hawkers in the city adds up to Rs 550 crore annually. Mecanzy Dabre, deputy secretary of the National Hawkers Federation (NHF), estimates the amount at Rs 800 crore every year.

 

MY  TAKE  :

 

Dear Shri Hardeep Singh Puriji ,

A couple of days, Central Govt extended the PM-SVANidhi [ Street Vendor Atm-Nirbhar Nidhi ] scheme , by one year

Thanks

However, after reading the above-mentioned news reports, I hope that you will implement the suggestions made in my following earlier e-mail, to put a permanent end to the HAFTA SYSTEM

 

Ø  Thank You, Shri Hardeep Singh Puriji ………………….. [  01 June 2020 ]

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh  /  hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 01 May 2022