Shillong, Nov 26: The Meghalaya and Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association (MGSPHSVA) is unsatisfied with the state government’s intention to temporarily relocate the vendors doing business on the footpath outside Shillong Civil Hospital to an area prepared by the government in front of the Public Works Department office at Barik.
MGSPHSVA general secretary Shane Thabah, in the presence of other leaders, said today that they had come to inspect the Barik site but that the government’s list of hawkers eligible for relocation does not tally with the actual number who have stalls outside Civil Hospital.
Thabah said that the list was published in newspapers while the Provisional Town Vending Committee (PTVC) meeting was mum on the subject. The hawkers’ association has found that only 29 hawkers were surveyed by the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) while there are, Thabah said, around 40 vendors along the hospital stretch.
Just two days ago the MGSPHSVA has complained that not all the 29 have been allotted space for relocation.
Thabah said that those hawkers who were not counted in the survey were either not present on that particular day or are those who only set up stalls on Sundays. Either way, they deserve a place in the relocation, the association feels.
In a mark of unity, those hawkers who have been allocated spots in Barik say they will only move once all of their eligible comrades are also settled in new locations.
The association stated that before evicting them from in front of Civil Hospital, the government should make a memorandum of understanding so that there will be no problems later, such as in Khyndailad, where Thabah said that hawkers are still facing problems despite the government hailing their relocation as a success story.
