Govt to provide alternative location for street vendors

Replying to a zero hour notice brought by Mawlai legislator PT Sawkmie in the Assembly, Tynsong said the intention is to streamline the whole process so that the street vendors do not occupy any space haphazardly and hamper the free flow of pedestrians and traffic.

“Definite steps to achieve this end are being taken with all sincerity and we will address this issue with right earnest,” he assured.

Stating that the state government is not indifferent to the issue of the street vendors of the state, Tynsong said with a view to look into the plight of the street vendors and to ensure that a uniform regulation is in place to regulate the street vending, the state government has introduced a Bill in this session to repeal the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood Regulation of Street Vending) Rules 2022 and adopt the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 as enacted by the Government of India.

He said the Bill/Act provides for survey of the vendors, registration of the vendors, notifying of vending zones, relocation of the registered vendors in the vending zones, constitution of town vending committees, constitution of grievance redressal mechanism etc.

He also informed that the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2022 have also been notified by the state government.

With a view to regulate street hawking in the urban areas of the state, the state government has passed the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

Thereafter the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2017 and the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme, 2017 were framed to administer and coordinate the activities of street vendors.

Under the purview of the State Act, a total of 1249 vendors have been registered/identified in the 6 Municipal towns of the state.

Out of the above, only a mere 342 are registered vendors of Shillong.

Tynsong said the low number of registered vendors is primarily in view of the writ appeal recently disposed off in the High Court wherein an Association of vendors viz Meghalaya & Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers & Street Vendors Association (M&GSPH&SVA), amongst many other issues, has mainly challenged the validity of the State Act against the Central Act which is applicable all over the country.

With the majority of the vendors in Shillong being members of the association, the group have opposed all activities implemented under the State Act since the PIL was filed.

He however said that prior to disposing off the matter on August 24, High Court in its order dated August 16, has directed the state government to deal with the issue of the proliferation of hawkers occupying footpath and affecting pedestrian walkways with appropriate strictness.

Based on the direction of the court, the state government through the deputy commissioner, East Khasi Hills has initiated steps to comply with the direction by constituting a Committee headed by executive magistrate in these areas to identify and remove such encroachments.

An order has also been issued to that effect for the various committees to identify all such locations and to take necessary steps such as relocation of hawkers, reducing stall space, removing structures etc, in order to prevent encroachment on the pedestrian walkways and public roads.

A timeline of 10 days was given by the deputy commissioner to complete this exercise. While taking up the exercise, it was ensured by the committees that all stakeholders including the association and representatives of vendors were involved in the activities undertaken.

This exercise is necessary and not intended to harass the street vendors, on the contrary the motive of the exercise is that the state is to ensure that the footpaths and pedestrian walkways are affected to the bare minimum so that the right of way of pedestrians is not compromised.

The High Court has also taken cognizance of the steps while disposing off the matter in its order dated August 24, he said.