Rahul Gandhi meeting hawkers and vendors at his residence in New Delhi on February 3, 2014.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today appealed to opposition parties to support the passage of six anti-corruption bills as also the Street Vendors Bill in the Parliament session starting Wednesday.
Rahul has been making a strong pitch for creating a framework to fight corruption.
Talking to mediapersons after meeting hundreds of street vendors at his residence, he said the bill concerned is about their rights and he supports it.
"My request is also to the Opposition parties that they should not stop such bills - the bills related to (fighting) corruption and the bill related to the rights of the street vendors. Everybody should join hands to pass these bills," he said in his brief remarks.
The anti-graft bills on which Rahul has been laying emphasis on are The Whistleblower Bill, Amendment to Prevention of Corruption Act, Grievance Redressal Bill, Public Procurement Bill, the Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organisations Bill, Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, The Right of Citizens for Time-bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill.
According to him, the passage of the Lokpal Bill won't suffice and a whole framework to fight corruption is required.
Apart from vote on account, the passage of anti-graft bills is the main legislative agenda of the government in this extended Winter session.
Rahul has been supporting the Street Vendors Bill. During an interaction with the street vendors on January 30, he promised that he will push for the clearance of the bill in the upcoming session.
The street vendors, who met Rahul today under the banner of National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), requested him to ensure that the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill is passed by Rajya Sabha so that they can get freedom from "rampant extortion and terror of police and municipal agencies".
Programme Manager of NASVI, Ranjit Abhigyan, said after listening to the plight of the street vendors, Rahul assured them that their rights and entitlements will be protected at all costs and the government would pass the Street Vendors Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
According to NASVI statement, Rahul said that the Ministry of Home Affairs and Delhi Police will be asked to maintain zero tolerance on the issue of human rights violations.
On behalf of street vendors, NASVI national coordinator Arbind Singh handed over a five-page memorandum to Rahul and demanded an immediate end to the "menace of extortion of money by police forces and municipal authorities" from the community.
Besides passage of the bill, NASVI demanded written instruction by the Home Ministry to Delhi Police to put an end to extortion of money by Delhi Police and threatening their removal and eviction.
"There must be mandatory registering of FIRs against cops and municipal officials after complaint by any street vendor.
A DCP rank officer must be designated for looking into the complaints of extortion and registering," it demanded.
Another demand was immediate opening of India Gate for street vendors and hawkers.