Earlier in November, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) started the removal of all the small carts and stalls that serve non-vegetarian food from the roads in Ahmedabad. AMC is the fifth civic body in Ahmedabad to direct such an issue. A large number of small vendors selling non-vegetarian food as a source of their employment were removed with their carts from Jodhpur, ISCON crossroad, and many other places by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s Estate Department. They said that the carts were obstructing the smooth movement of the traffic in the area.
Before removing the non-vegetarian carts from the roads the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation issued an oral order stating to ban the selling of non-vegetarian food from the public roads. The order also stated to ban the carts selling non-vegetarian food within a 100-meter radius of schools and religious places.
Devang Dani, Chairman of the Ahmedabad’s Municipal Corporation town planning meeting earlier in November made the statement “The smell near these stalls could be nauseating to the extent that one had to cover one’s nose” and therefore, action should be taken considering the impact it has on people’s health.”
Before Ahmedabad, the Municipal Corporation of Vadodara, Junagarh, Rajkot, and Bhavnagar ordered the street vendors to cover the non-vegetarian food saying that it hurts the religious sentiments of the Hindus living in those areas. Not surprisingly all of the regions are ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. It didn’t bother the men in power to think and make a rational decision about how it can make hundreds of the small vendors unwaged.
Gujarat Chief Minister, Bhupendrabhai Patel asserted in a statement that the “decision about removing the non-veg and egg stalls was taken by the individual municipal corporations’ ‘.
On 9th December the Gujarat High Court slammed the Municipal Corporation of Ahmedabad for its drive against the street vendors selling non-vegetarian food and confiscation of the carts. The High Court questioned the civic body that “how can you decide what we should eat outside?” Justice Biren Vaishnav asked several questions to the civic body counsel to understand and make them understand the repercussions of their decision. He furiously asked the council, “How can you stop people from eating what they want? Suddenly because someone in power thinks that this is what they want you to do. Tomorrow you will decide what I should eat outside?”
The high court taking a stronger dig mentioned that the council should not work on fancies of the elected wings. “Don’t undertake a drive to satisfy the ego of some people”, the court warned the civic body. Justice Vaishnav highlighted the bigotry and discrimination against a specific community behind the decision to remove non-vegetarian carts from the public spaces. The court was disenchanted by the decision when a group of vendors sought help from the court. The court demanded to return the carts to the vendors and allow them to resume their business.
After angry lashing by the Gujarat Court, Ahmedabad Municipal Cooperation in their defence said that it wasn’t a decision made against any specific community and termed its decision just as an anti-encroachment drive. They also mentioned that only those carts were confiscated that were creating hurdles and blocking the footpaths for the people.
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