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Shillong, Nov 5: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) will not back off from implementing its order to ensure all tribal and non-tribal hawkers register and obtain trade license from the Council.
According to the Council, free registration is for tribal people who are engaging in the business of hawking while trade license is for non-tribal traders. The exercise also aimed at addressing the “rampant†practice of benami transactions.
In a public notice issued on October 14, the KHADC has declared hawking on footpaths, public roads, street corners under its jurisdiction as illegal, unhygienic and a cause of inconvenience to the general public.
Referring to the provisions of the United Khasi Jaiñtia Hills District (Trading by Non tribals) Regulation, 1954, it has also prohibited non-tribals from carrying out any trade or business without a valid license.
Based on the public notice, the enforcement wing of the Council has conducted an eviction drive against illegal non-tribal hawkers on October 30, which saw stiff opposition even from few tribal traders, who allegedly attempt to protect the illegal business in the name of livelihood.
The Meghalaya Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association on Monday also staged a protest inside the Council’s premises terming the Council’s action as a violation of the status quo as per the November 25, 2016-order passed by the Meghalaya High Court.
The MGSPH&SVA also submitted a memorandum to the KHADC chief Teiñwell Dkhar conveying their decision to reject the form of the Council for registering of hawkers citing that it has no system but is randomly giving out forms and have brought new people to occupy spaces leading to utter confusion and lawlessness.
It has also demanded the immediate implementation of The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 so that licensing, demarcating of vending and non vending zones can be carried out.
A meeting was held on Tuesday between the chief executive member (CEM) Teiñwell Dkhar, Executive Member in-charge Trade Paul Lyngdoh and officials of the department to discuss on the said memorandum.
After the meeting, Lyngdoh told reporters that the KHADC is firm on its stand to implement the order for registration of all tribal hawkers as well as action against non-tribal hawkers without valid trade documents.
“The drive to identify all hawkers will continue. We will ensure the EC direction is carried out in letter and spirit as this will allow the Council to have detailed information about the number of hawkers operating under its jurisdiction, which have been missing for so long,†he said.
Stating that the exercise is in the interest of all hawkers, the EM said that the registration process would also facilitate the rehabilitation of hawkers once the hawking zones are being created by the Council or the state government.
According to Lyngdoh, the Council highly suspects rampant practice of benami transaction in the absence of proper statistics.
“That is why we are stressing that each hawker should register and declare that the items belonged to him/her and persons they are engaging as workers,†he said adding this would prevent vested interest from attempting to misuse Scheduled Tribe status to protect illegal business by non-tribal.
Asked, Lyngdoh said that the one-day eviction drive conducted recently has found out that majority of the non-tribal hawkers do not have vending license adding it was temporarily suspended due to the maiden visit of the President of India Ram Nath Kovind to the state recently.
“However, the eviction drive will again resume very soon,†he said while informing that the response has been very encouraging as quite a number of tribal vendors have come forward to register with the Council.
Stating that the resistance has only come from a section of hawkers, the EM said the delegation of the MGSPH&SVA also comprises of two out of seven tribal vendors, who were recently fined by the Meghalaya High Court for challenging the public notice of the KHADC.
“We also condemned the manner in which they have approached the KHADC by shouting slogans which only reflect lack of respect to the Council,†Lyngdoh said as he informed that the executive committee would soon come up with an order to regulate entry of people in the Council.
Terming the demands of the association as baseless, Lyngdoh said that the KHADC is not a party of the High Court’s order related to the status quo as referred to by the delegation but it is with the state government which was asked to come up with hawking zone.
In so far as the public notice of the KHADC is concerned, the EM said the Meghalaya High Court has gone so far as to impose fine on the people who are seeking to halt the process of registration and dismissed a review petition filed by them, which shows that the Council is on the right track.