AITUC, hawkers' body to gherao Ranchi civic body over eviction drive on July 14

Ranchi, Jul 10 (PTI) The Jharkhand unit of the AITUC and members of the Indian Hawkers Alliance (IHA) on Friday said they would hold a rally and gherao the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) office on July 14, along with displaced street vendors, against the civic body's anti-encroachment drive. They demanded rehabilitation of street vendors affected by the eviction drive. CPI state secretary Mahendra Pathak alleged that the RMC was acting arbitrarily by removing street vendors without making arrangements for their rehabilitation. "Arrangements for rehabilitation should be made before evicting street vendors. The poor who earn their livelihood on the streets are being evicted unconstitutionally," Pathak told a press conference here. He alleged that the RMC is carrying out a large-scale eviction drive across the city. "These actions violate the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the Jharkhand Street Vending Rules, 2016, the Jharkhand Street Vending Scheme, and the Jharkhand High Court's order dated August 12, 2025," he added. IHA state secretary Vikas Verma alleged that a biweekly market at Ranchi's Morabadi was shut recently without the provision of an alternative site. "It had been operating for nearly 40 years, and most rural women earned their livelihood there," Verma said. The organisations said the rally would begin from Jaipal Singh Stadium on July 14 and culminate at the RMC office, where protesters would stage a demonstration. PTI SAN MNB