Shillong, Aug 12: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma visited the Polo vendors’ market here on Wednesday to review the ongoing rehabilitation of street vendors, interact with them, and distribute cheques under the Chief Minister’s Urban Livelihood Grant (CM ULG).
The street vendors were recently relocated under the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme, 2023 to a 2,270 square metre site with a 620 square metre hawkers’ market and 132 vending stalls.
The Chief Minister was briefed on the functioning of the market and the relocation of vendors from Polo and Jail Road areas. Interacting with vendors, he said the initiative aims to ensure that “the general public can walk freely” while also providing immediate financial support to affected vendors.
Under CM ULG, vendors holding a valid Certificate of Vending are eligible for Rs 20,000 assistance — Rs 10,000 immediate payment and Rs 2,000 per month for five months. A total of 65 CoVs have been issued for the vending zone opposite SBI and 106 for the zone near Matri Mandir.
Appealing to the public, the Chief Minister said this was “the best way for us all to move together and move forward as a society,” and stressed that challenges can only be addressed “by cooperating and only by working with each other.” He added that similar support could be extended to vendors in other areas.
He later visited different sections of the market and spoke directly with vendors about business conditions after relocation.
The exercise is aimed to reduce traffic congestion and create safer pedestrian spaces. The government said high-traffic stretches are being treated as No-Vending Zones, with eligible local vendors registered and issued CoVs to operate in planned vending zones with better sanitation and civic facilities.
