From Stalls to Survival: The Cost of Delhi’s Cleanliness Drive

Over the past several weeks, Delhi’s street vendors have found themselves under siege. Bulldozers have arrived without warning, stalls have been razed, and livelihoods—built over decades—have been wiped out in minutes. Since the BJP’s Rekha Gupta assumed office as Chief Minister of Delhi, vendors say evictions have intensified dramatically. According to the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), the capital is home to over 2 lakh street vendors. Yet, since April 28, more than 25,000 of them have been evicted under what authorities are calling a sweeping “cleanliness mission.”

Many of those affected hold valid Certificates of Vending (COV), issued by municipal corporations, but have still seen their goods confiscated and stalls demolished. The bulldozer has become a familiar and feared sight. In May, the Delhi government launched a 20-day city-wide sanitation campaign. The Chief Minister said that, for the first time under a “triple-engine” government, officials from the Delhi government and the municipal body were working in coordination to make Delhi “clean and beautiful”. Encroachments, debris, and garbage, she said, would no longer be tolerated on public pathways, parks, or markets.

Alongside this, the Delhi Police launched a special drive targeting so-called “illegal encroachments.” Officials claim the effort is intended to reclaim public spaces and ease traffic congestion by targeting illegally parked autorickshaws, private taxis, e-rickshaws, and street vendors. But for thousands of working-class families, these drives have meant sudden unemployment, rising debt, and growing despair. Activists and legal experts argue that the evictions violate the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, which mandates protection, consultation, and rehabilitation—none of which, vendors say, have been offered.

At a public hearing organised by NASVI, vendors vented their frustration. “No one was listening. We went to the Chief Minister’s house, we approached the municipal bodies, but were forced to organise a public hearing when our voices continued to be ignored,” said Arbind Singh, NASVI’s president. Denied permission to protest at Jantar Mantar, vendors convened at the hearing, where lawyers, civil society activists, and representatives from the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women showed up in solidarity. “Lawyers agreed to take up our cases. We invited BJP leaders too. Now even the Urban Development Minister has called me for a discussion. The government is feeling the heat—and we will only increase it from here,” Singh told Frontline.

Despite the presence of 28 Town Vending Committees (TVCs) in Delhi—statutory bodies meant to regulate street vending—Singh said they are being sidelined. “I don’t know why they were formed if there’s no intent to use them,” he said, adding that the committees are defunct and not consulted in rehabilitation efforts.

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Singh insists the demolitions are part of a broader pattern that has accelerated under the current cleanliness campaign. “There’s been a drastic rise in evictions. They think they can just drive vendors away. That’s not possible. You have to regulate them.” NASVI estimates over 2 lakh vendors operate across Delhi, especially in working-class neighbourhoods like South and North Shahdara, Najafgarh zone, and Madhu Vihar—areas where informal vending is not just common but essential. “In wealthier areas, tribal people have options. In poorer neighbourhoods, vendors are lifelines,” he said.

Cries for help

In East Delhi’s Madhu Vihar, the loss feels deeply personal. Shiv Kumari, in her late 60s, has been vending there for over four decades. Her family’s roots in the area go back to 1973, when her father-in-law arrived from Lucknow. “We’ve been here since before anything existed. Now everything we built is gone,” she said. “I have 14 people to feed. Some are educated but still jobless. This business is our only means. The bulldozers destroyed most of it.”

Shiv Kumari’s family sells puja items, clay goods, and handmade idols. They possess vending certificates and have taken loans under the PM SVANidhi scheme, which offers interest-free loans to help street vendors recover post-COVID-19. Vendors with COVs or receiving SVANidhi loans are not supposed to be removed, as their operations are authorised. “Still, they came without proper notice. Two days ago, they warned us—but they always say that. We never thought they would destroy everything.”

Her daughter Ashu was blunt: “When elections come, they need the rerhi-patri walas, the auto drivers, even beggars. They put up banners, make promises. But when it comes to our livelihoods, they disappear.” She said the SVANidhi loans had become burdensome. “They’ve taken away our work. Who will repay the loan? We try to deposit a little money, but it gets deducted. There’s nothing left for daily expenses.” She added, “The whole city depends on street vendors. For many women and the unemployed, it’s a way to earn with dignity.”

Now the family sets up their goods on a mat. “Today alone, the police harassed us three times,” said Shiv Kumari’s son, Suraj Bhan. “They tell us, ‘You can’t work here for free.’ Many vendors pay up—something is better than nothing.” Suraj, a graduate and former computer operator, lost his job during the pandemic and joined the family business. Despite years of searching, he hasn’t found new work.

The family once earned Rs.1,000–1,200 a day from their three stalls. Now, with their income slashed and uncertainty looming, they’re simply asking to be allowed to work. “We’re not asking for charity. Just a place to sit,” said Ashu. “We make everything ourselves. We don’t steal. Just let us live.” For her, the crackdown has been politically revealing. “Earlier, under Kejriwal, we weren’t disturbed. But since Rekha Gupta came, everything has been removed in the name of cleanliness.”

Shiv Kumari added: “I’ve understood one thing—if they come again, I’ll fight back, even if I go to jail. You have to work to eat. We’re not doing anything wrong.”

The sentiment is echoed across the city. “This is no longer sporadic—it’s citywide and systematic,” said Arbind Singh. “Major evictions are happening in long-established markets. South Delhi has been especially targeted. Vendors have been removed from Najafgarh, South Shahdara, Madhu Vihar, Mayur Vihar—no zone has been spared.”

In Sarojini Nagar, one of Delhi’s busiest commercial hubs, panic erupted when bulldozers arrived without warning. “On Saturday, May 17, NDMC came suddenly. They forced us out with no time to react,” said a vendor, requesting anonymity. “Usually, they seize goods during the day. But this time, they waited until night. When everyone had left, they destroyed everything. This has never happened before.”

Some vendors, who pack up their goods each night, were spared. But others lost their stalls and equipment. “NDMC says it’s for cleanliness, but they take our goods and never return them,” another vendor said.

Even shop owners weren’t spared. Ashok Randhawa, president of the Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Traders’ Association, said the High Court had ordered action against hawkers, but the outcome was unexpected. “Bulldozers and enforcement teams arrived around 11:00 pm—after the market closed. Between 11:30 pm and 1:00 am, they demolished awnings, signage, even legal shop fronts—nearly 150 of them.”

“This is unprecedented,” Randhawa added. “Footfall has dropped by 50 per cent in the last four days. Even authorised shops have suffered. This wasn’t an eviction—it was destruction.”

Frontline reached out to NDMC and MCD for comment but received no response.

“These evictions are happening daily,” said Shakeel Ahmed Siddiqui, general secretary of the Delhi Pradesh Rehri Patri Khomcha Hawkers’ Union, affiliated with CITU. “They’re using two excuses—cleanliness and encroachment. But this began right after Rekha Gupta became CM. A proposal was passed in the Vidhan Sabha to clean Delhi in 20 days. Under that pretext, bulldozers are demolishing the livelihoods of lakhs of self-employed people.”

Siddiqui referenced the city’s long history of street vending, from the Mughal-era Meena Bazaar to post-Partition migration. “Street vending has always been part of Delhi. Today, union estimates say 7 to 8 lakh tribal people work as mobile or stationary vendors. They don’t want jobs—they’re self-reliant.”

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He stressed that the evictions violate legal and constitutional protections. A 2013 Supreme Court order prohibits evictions without a proper survey by the Town Vending Committee. That principle became law with the Street Vendors Act of 2014. “But now, neither are proper surveys conducted, nor are vending zones created. The law is being sidelined.”

Even the SVANidhi scheme, he said, has turned coercive. “We told the government— people don’t want loans; they want security. Loans bring debt. Vendors needed protection, not paperwork.”

Siddiqui also linked the demolitions to larger economic trends. “FDI is coming into retail—Walmart, Amazon. They need market share. And they’ll only get it if street vendors are removed. Vendors sell cheaper goods. So we’re being cleared out in the name of cleanliness—for corporates.”

Despite the legal framework, he said, Town Vending Committees are either sidelined or dysfunctional. “And the Act itself has been rendered toothless.”