Tourism minister Paul Lyngdoh has expressed surprise over the protest called by the street vendors and hawkers that they were not informed about their relocation from Khyndailad.
Lyngdoh said that a number of meetings were held by deputy chief minister Sniawbhalang Dhar and a committee was also constituted last year, which comprised representatives from the vendors association.
He said that all those meetings were recorded and they took more than a year to complete the entire exercise of relocating the vendors. “It is baseless to say that they were not consulted,” he added.
Lyngdoh said the tourism department only wanted to give a facelift to the Khyndailad stretch as a pedestrian zone and make it tourist-friendly. He said the area will also have a “busking zone” to celebrate music, which Shillong has the talent for.
He also said that the process of identifying the hawkers was done by the Shillong Municipal Board. “It was a very transparent process and the CEO and other officials were all involved in those negotiations and discussions,” he stated.
With Sunday being the deadline for relocating the hawkers, Lyngdoh said that he does not know if it will be extended since it was indicated by the Commissioner and Secretary Urban Affairs at a meeting.
He said that the government will take stock of the situation in the coming week and sit for a review on how things have shaped up since the last meeting.
Yesterday, hawkers and street vendors under the banner of Meghalaya Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association protested outside the office of the Shillong Municipal Board to oppose the proposal of the state government to relocate them to the MUDA Shopping Complex by November 24.
The association stated that the municipal board is not aware of any plan to relocate the hawkers and street vendors.
