Shillong, Oct 8: The Provisional Town Vending Committee (PTVC) met today on the issue of relocation of street hawkers in areas around Shillong Civil Hospital, Jail Road, Laitumkhrah and Motphran.
However, the Meghalaya and Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association (MGSPHSVA) expressed its shock to learn that the letter the organisation submitted more than three weeks ago along with detailed comments on the lists that emerged from the sub-committee meeting held on August 22 to examine the cases of the many hawkers of Khyndailad who still had not been issued with a certificate of vending (CoV) had been “deliberately misplaced” in the office of the Shillong Municipal Board (SMB).
The MGSPHSVA had examined the lists and indicated once again the many anomalies which included inclusion of non-genuine hawkers and exclusion of genuine ones, confusion with names of people who have already been issued CoV, etc. That this letter went missing in the SMB office “indicates a gross breach and shows not only a lack of seriousness on the part of the staff and officials there regarding the hawkers matter but also points to abuse of power and corruption”, the association said in a release.
With regard to the Civil Hospital and Jail Road sites, the association maintained that a claims and objections process must be initiated before temporary relocation of hawkers to the PWD complex at Barik is carried out. The space to be designed and constructed should be done in consultation with the hawkers and not unilaterally by the government, the MGSPHSVA said.
For Jail Road, the association wants a division of the area into two – from OB Mall to Vishal Mega Mart and a separate section from the Shillong Jail to Hotel Polo Towers. Again, it insisted on a claims and objections process before relocation. The hawkers body suggested designated space in the old MTC complex (now being converted into a massive shopping mall), the old Assembly building or other buildings as acceptable places for relocation.
The association rejected the PTVC Chairperson and Secretary’s view that vendors from the jail to Polo Towers should be removed to the Polo junction under the Forest Department as no inspection has been carried out with the hawkers themselves.
Similarly, the MGSPHSVA rejected any plans for Laitumkhrah and Motphran as no claims and objections process, nor inspection with hawkers have been carried out.
Regarding nighttime food vendors in Khyndailad, the MGSPHSVA suggested that they be allowed to occupy the same space they earlier had in front of the OB Shopping Mall as there is little to no obstruction of traffic at night.
The next meeting of the PTVC will be held on October 15.
