Thirteen local food stall vendors in Ri-Bhoi, mostly women, have been left disappointed after they were denied a contract to supply food to election workers, etc during the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
What makes the pill even more bitter to swallow is that the contract was instead awarded to a non-tribal from East Khasi Hills.
The vendors met with the Deputy Commissioner of Ri-Bhoi, Arpit Upadhaya today to demand that the tender be reissued.
In a statement to the media following the meeting, the food stall vendors expressed concerns over the rejection of their tender by the DC’s office. They said that this decision contradicted past practice where local vendors had consistently provided food supplies for various elections, including state Assembly, district council and Lok Sabha over many years. In fact, the vendors also informed that they have yet to have their bills from last year’s Assembly election cleared by the authorities.
The group claimed to have fulfilled all the criteria laid out by the DC’s office in the tender, including health checkups and compliance with food safety and hygiene norms.
Before meeting the DC, the vendors stopped at the Circuit House where the non-tribal individual is using for food arrangements. The vendors claimed to have found violations of the tender criteria there, such as incorrect storage of food, and questioned how a private contractor can use government property for business purposes when they, in the past, had always had to set up their own stalls and arrange utilities separately.
They also raised with the DC a complaint on the supposed absence of government-listed rates in the tender documents.
The Ri-Bhoi Youth Welfare Organisation is supporting the vendors in their fight.
