Shaktiman Ghosh
General secretary, Hawker Sangram Committee and National Hawker Federation

The mayor does not have a choice. The footpath has its own economy, serving the urban poor by offering products at lower rates than in shops. With factories shutting and farmers being evicted, hawking is the biggest alternative employment opportunity. When Operation Sunshine took place in 1996, there were 1.5 lakh of us in Calcutta while the number today is 2.75 lakh. The mayor has planned the way ahead in keeping with the national policy on urban street vendors of 2004. The chief minister may have revealed the shift in stance before the polls keeping the hawker votebank in mind.