Zones to be identified at Khyndailad, Civil Hospital areas in first phase
Shillong, Nov 26: The complicated process of relocation of hawkers from the streets of Shillong, will take more time as the state government has just formally decided to relocate them. This will be followed by identification of vending zones, starting with Khyndailad and Civil Hospital, and selection of eligible hawkers.
Close on the heels of street vendors and hawkers taking out a protest rally against an alleged government move to relocate them on short notice, various departments including Tourism, Agriculture, Veterinary, Health, Home, Urban Affairs, PWD, and other stakeholders held a meeting that decided to relocate the hawkers to designated vending zones.
The government move also followed a directive of Meghalaya High Court to Urban Affairs department to constitute a committee comprising authorities and identify vending spaces for street vendors.
“It was decided that in the first phase, hawkers would be relocated to designated vending spaces in the Khyndai Lad and Civil Hospital areas,” an official statement said.
“The department expects to notify the vending zones and communicate this information to the eligible hawkers at the earliest. Following this, hawkers will be given 30 days to relocate after the issuance of certificates, as per the scheme,” it said.
“The Town Vending Committee (TVC) is in constant communication with the hawkers’ association and is taking every step to ensure this relocation is implemented in an orderly manner. The approved street vending plan will be placed in the public domain shortly,” it added.
To protect the rights of urban street vendors and regulate street vending activities, the Government of India enacted the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. This act mandates every state to establish Town Vending Committees, identify and register street vendors, and demarcate vending and no-vending zones.
In accordance with the Act, the Town Vending Committee (TVC) was established in 2022. The TVC is chaired by the CEO of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) and includes representatives from the Deputy Commissioner’s office, the police department, the urban department, municipal boards, local headmen, the State Urban Livelihood Mission, and hawkers’ associations. The TVC has conducted 10 meetings to discuss the issues related to street vending.
To streamline the process of survey and identification of eligible street vendors, the state formulated the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme in 2023.
The scheme provides the principles for the identification of vending zones and the manner in which they shall be notified. It also provides the manner in which the Certificates of Vending (CoV) shall be issued to eligible street vendors.
Furthermore, the scheme provides guiding principles for the selection of eligible vendors and vending zones and outlines the process for their relocation in the notified vending zones. Surveys were conducted in 22 localities between December 2023 and January 2024 as per the guidelines provided in the scheme.
These localities included the following areas: Khyndai Lad, Assembly, Barik, Dhankheti, Firebridge, GS Road, Governor, IewMawlong, Laban, Jail Road, Lachumiere, Laitumkhrah Firebrigade, Lumshatsngi, Malki, Motphran, Polo, Qualapatty, Quintton Road, Red Cross, Umsohsun, Wahthapbru, and Wards Lake.
