'We voted for change, not this': Kolkata's hawkers fight for survival amid BJP govt's eviction drive

Walk outside a railway station in Kolkata, and it is hard to miss the hawkers selling small goods. The sounds of hawkers shouting to catch the attention of passersby have added a quaint character to Kolkata for decades.

But, things are set to change, with the new BJP government looking to clean up hawkers perched with their stalls illegally on railway and other land. The hawkers were hard to go unnoticed; the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), in the erstwhile Left Front and Trinamool Congress (TMC) governments, began accepting their existence, and KMC laws were overlooked.

With BJP coming to power in West Bengal in 2026, many have been looking forward to better governance, development and more employment opportunities. These hopes have been stunted, however, for hawkers on pavements and outside railway stations, who face eviction across the state, including at railway stations and pavements.

The market adjacent to Sealdah railway station is a busy area with daily commuters coming from suburban areas to Kolkata for their offices. There are around 1,000 stalls where hawkers in and around the flyover near the station have been selling goods for almost four decades. They are now a worried lot, as they risk losing their livelihoods after the notice by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on June 29 to clear their stalls in the vicinity within a week. Vendors, however, are continuing to sell their goods below the flyover, while worry grips their minds.

Mantu Yadav is one such hawker selling fresh kachori, sabzi, and sweet meats below the Sealdah flyover. The stall has been there for 40 years, when his brother used to sell clothes. Twenty years ago, Yadav took over the space to start his eatery stall. He is wondering how to feed his family, including his parents, wife, and two 12-year-old children. "Let there be change, let change happen in people’s lives, but not by taking away livelihoods. We have brought you (BJP)," said Yadav.

Hawkers outside Sealdah railway station were evicted in the first month of the BJP coming into power, in May. It started with Howrah and Sealdah railway stations, with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) evicting almost 500 hawkers, particularly from railway platforms to the taxi stand. The exercise then spread to other railway stations across the state, with hawkers left homeless in the flash of an eye.

A tea stall owner, Khokhon Mondol, shares the same perspective as Yadav. "We voted for the government to do good, but they are not doing good for us. They say if we don’t clear the place, they will use bulldozers," said Mondol. Incidentally, the KMC notice is stuck on the wall of his stall.

The notice specifically mentions that stalls by hawkers under the Sealdah flyover, whether of a "permanent or temporary nature, in violation of Section 371 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, read with Section 516 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980".

Surendra Mahato migrated from Bihar almost 45 years ago and has been selling fruits at a spot since then. He is now in a quandary over his livelihood at the age of 61. "I don’t know what I will do. I don’t procure a lot of fruits nowadays because I don’t know when they (KMC) will come to evict us."

Sarita Mahato comes all the way from Kalyani by train to sell corn kerbs. Mahato travels every day for more than an hour to come to Sealdah, where she sets up her plastic sheet to keep goods to sell. She knows hawker eviction is a reality, as the Kalyani railway station too has been cleared of hawkers. She says she earns Rs. 200 a day, of which a portion goes into buying food. "What will we eat? We all have children. The government should think about this," said Sarita.

The Calcutta High Court stayed hawker evictions till the end of June and then till the first week of July. A batch of petitions, clubbed into one, were heard to stop hawker eviction without rehabilitation in and around railway stations, which was the first target. However, hawkers on pavements in other parts of Kolkata, like the Hazra area, have received eviction notices. There is, however, some relief with hawker evictions being halted till the festival of Durga Puja in October, until the government puts a plan together to prevent lakhs of livelihood losses. The decision came after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari stepped in and held a meeting with the Hawkers Joint Action Committee in the first week of July. The modalities of the plan are yet to be worked out.

There is still some worry in hawkers’ minds, as their future continues to remain uncertain. Soban Roy Chowdhury took over his father’s business of selling school bags and employs staff to help sell goods. He pays a monthly fee of Rs 200 to KMC and has a trade licence too. Despite that, confusion prevails on whether his shop will be allowed to remain. "If the government tells us to go, where will so many people go? One family has at least four people and four staff at the shops. Lakhs of people will be jobless. Will the new government be able to provide an alternative place?" said Chowdhury.

Hawkers have come together to protest outside the Sealdah railway station against evictions under a common banner. They hope the government will consider a plausible rehabilitation plan rather than take away their livelihoods. A senior citizen, Sahadev Pal, was part of the protest march under the banner of ‘Hawkers’ Association’. "Our appeal is that we should not be evicted so that we can earn and eat. It is a fight for survival and our families."