More economic activities need to be restarted in a safe way, the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) Shillong unit has urged.
In a petition to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, the pressure group requested that daily wage earners, such as small shopkeepers, labourers, taxi drivers and street vendors be allowed to run their businesses and earn a living so long as they follow Covid-19 protocols.
The current lockdown and containment measures in the state have hit the livelihoods of the weaker sections of society hard, HYC Shillong president John Lyngdoh said.
“We fear that this lockdown without any strategy or assistance for this section of people, who still have to eat and pay their bills, will give rise to famine amid the coronavirus pandemic,” he added.
The HYC also suggested the government find ways and means to give financial assistance to those who do not have fixed salaries.
