Hawkers demand rectification of ‘flaws’ before moving out
Shillong, June 30: The state government’s effort to relocate street vendors from Khydialad, the commercial hub of Shillong, hit another road block with the latter refusing to move out in protest against an eviction drive conducted by the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) on Monday.
The eviction drive was conducted after the government on June 21 had notified the upper floor of Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) as a ‘vending zone’ and the remaining part of Khyndailad area as a ‘no vending zone’.
However, Meghalaya and Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association (MGSPHSVA) has maintained that hawkers and street vendors would shift only after rectification of certain “flaws” by the Provisional Town Vending Committee (PTVC) constituted in this regard.
Backing the association, Thma U Rangli Juki (TUR) leader Angela Rangad slammed the SMB for attempting to forcibly evict the hawkers and vendors.
“We will not allow the SMB to forcefully evict the hawkers. We will shift only when we are made aware of the plan,” she told reporters.
She alleged that the government move to relocate the hawkers to MUDA basement did not have any approval of the PTVC. In fact, the authorities went ahead with construction of the vending zone at MUDA basement despite the hawkers’ body asking SMB to stop the process way ahead in January.
The place identified at MUDA basement is not fit for hawking and it is not safe for both hawkers and customers, she said.
“They (SMB) were supposed to place the plan before the PTVC. This is because we are the legitimate members of the TVC and we are the ones to decide how to move forward (the proposed relocation of hawkers),” she said.
Clarifying that the hawkers are against relocation, she reiterated the need to rectify the “flaws” that she listed as – in situ survey to enlist eligible hawkers and street vendors; record claims and objections to ensure only genuine hawkers be enlisted in survey; and create a mechanism for issuing licenses.
“As PTVC members, we had pointed out that we know very well that there are people who owned big shops, but they were issued hawkers’ licenses,” she asserted.
“You will create more problems if you are issuing licenses to non-deserving people,” she said.
Citing a case, Rangad said, “A woman, who has been sitting here for more than 30 years, is not getting a license. This shows that the digital survey has failed.”
“The digital survey did not have photos of the hawkers, whose names appeared in the list,” she alleged.
