Despite evictions,hawkers to do business

SHILLONG, JUNE 23: Demanding the constitution of the Town Vending Committee   with 50 percent hawkers and vendors’

representation, the city’s vendors and hawkers decided to continue to carry out their trades despite threat and intimidation of evictions from the state authority.

The street vendors and hawkers in the city are aggrieved lots as the authority has not allowed them to carry on with the livelihood activities for nearly two months bringing economic miseries to their families.

On Thursday, the vendors and hawkers under the banner of the Meghalaya and Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association and Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR) met Meghalaya urban affairs Ampareen Lyngdoh so that the government could mitigate their problem, but the minister did little to give them reason to cheers expect an assurance that she will look into the issue.  They also submitted a four point memorandum to the minister.

Before meeting the minister, the hawkers and vendors also held a public meeting at the parking lot near the Additional Secretariat to protest against the government’s insensitive attitude towards their problems.

“We have decided to continue with our livelihood activities in the streets even if we have to play hide and seek with the authority till the state government is ready to address our problems,” L Marbaniang, one of the street vendors told reporters after the meeting.

She also expressed dissatisfaction on the outcome of the meeting with the minister, who only assured to take up the matter.“ Often the SOT and officials are deployed as if we are criminals and the products sold by us are illegal. We demand our rights to livelihood,” she said.

When asked what about the rights of pedestrian, Marbaniang felt that the authority cannot blame the vendors for the congestion problem but look at the number of vehicles plying in the streets which has also caused a lot of problem.

TUR leader Angela Rangad said, “We demand the state government to decriminalize the hawkers and street vendors by ensuring there is no illegal evictions, brutality, threats, and illegal damaging and confiscation of our goods.”

She also said the government must review and amend the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014 and to bring it in line with provision of the Central Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014.

The delegation has also suggested the need to strengthen public transport system particularly in Shillong to ease congestion and put in place a policy for reducing the number of cars on the road and having no car zones and more no parking zones such that the rights of pedestrians may be ensured.-By Our Reporter