Calcutta, July 5: A day after hawkers prevented the opening of a 36,000sqft Spencer’s hypermart, they demanded that the store be allowed to sell food only in bulk and apparel priced only above Rs 300.

The Calcutta mayor held a meeting today with officials of the RPG Group, which owns the chain, the local Independent councillor and representa-tives of the Hawker Sangram Committee to end the impasse.

“We had initially said Sp- encer’s shouldn’t sell any item similar to those being sold by the 6,000 hawkers on Rashbehari Avenue. At the meeting, we laid down separate conditions according to items,” said Debasish Kumar, the councillor for ward No. 85.

As part of the conditions, rice, fruits and vegetables should only be sold in units of 3kg and above and spices in over 500gm packets. The hawkers have also demanded a bar on the sale of non-branded garments and ones that cost below Rs 300 (see box).

“We have also recommended that a two member committee comprising representatives from Spencer’s and the Hawker Sangram Committee be formed to review every week whether the conditions are being adhered to,” Kumar added.

At the meeting, Spencer’s was represented by vice-president Praveen Dalal, Dilip Sen, executive director of the RPG-owned CESC, and Prabir Mitra, its legal adviser.

They will meet the mayor again on Monday.

A spokesman for Spencer’s said the company was discussing the demands, but added that the hawkers’ clientele was different. “The hawkers have made some definite demands. We are internally discussing them. We think there is some misunderstanding. We are not in the same price and product point as the hawkers are. We are not a discount chain.”

The official said he was hopeful that a solution could be reached by Monday.

Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya said he had inter- vened at the hawkers’ request and their demands made sense. “Although the civic autho- rity is not involved (in the project), the hawkers had sought our intervention. That is why I decided to co-ordinate today’s meeting. The proposals advanced by the hawkers do make sense and I hope the Spencer’s representatives will by and large agree with what they have to say. After all, the hawkers have to make a living.”

Kumar said if the model mooted by the hawkers succeeded, “it could be applied to other malls being set up in areas where there is a heavy concentration of hawkers”.

According to estimates, the 6,000 hawkers on the road each earn around Rs 2,000 a day.