Shillong, June 15: In a well-attended meeting today in Shillong, TUR along with hawkers and street vendors from across the city have formed The Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association, which is an open and inclusive body, comprising of people from various areas and communities.
During the meeting, the state and central Acts governing the protection of livelihood of hawkers were also analysed thread-bare and issues pertaining to the anti-people policies and actions of the Meghalaya government against street vendors were discussed. TUR and The Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association rejects the Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, which fails to protect the rights and interests of hawkers and vendors in the state.
The Act does not have the bare minimum provisions as provided for in the Central Act, as for example, the system of determining the holding capacity in the city and the provisions for a transparent and participatory system of survey etc. The meeting unanimously decided to reject the Town Vending Committee that the government claims it has formed (as reported in the Press on 10th June,2016) as this has been done without any consultation and participation of the hawkers community as mandated by law.
In fact, illegal evictions, confiscation of goods, brutality against street vendors and outright barring of hawkers from earning their livelihood continues even though the Meghalaya High Court has given a stay on such evictions and the meeting strongly condemns these illegal actions.
The meeting also decided to hold a rally and submit a detailed memorandum and charter of demands to the Chief Minister, including the urgent need to amend the state law to ensure protection of the constitutional rights of the hawkers and street vendors.
The meeting was also supported by the Nazareth Hospital Workers’ Union, the first ever union formed amongst the private hospitals of the state and that which emerged following TUR’s Work Campaign.
TUR will continue to mobilize and address issues of workers’ rights and working people’s rights including those of street vendors and hawkers in the state and urges individuals to join hands in addressing the need for a just, equitable, inclusive and liveable city for all and to reclaim the city for the majority toiling masses as opposed to the promotion of the interests of only the privileged few. TUR invites persons who have grievances or wish to join the movement to get in touch on the following phone numbers: 9863097754, 9862477325, 9436312576, 9856066216 and 8974573670.
