IMPHAL: Acting on a petition filed by 44 women street vendors who have been evicted from Khwairamband Bazar in the heart of Imphal, the Gauhati high court on Tuesday issued notices to the Manipur government.
One of the pleas made by the petitioners to the court was to allocate to them the existing empty space available on the first floor of the three new women's market buildings. They also sought the development of the open space at the temporary market located at the erstwhile old district hospital here into a market structure exclusively for street vendors.
The women, while pleading for regulation of street-vending activities in the state as per the recommendation of the National Policy, 2009, also requested that arbitrary dispossession/evacuation of street vendors without a legally-framed rehabilitation scheme be stopped.
After hearing the submissions put up by advocate Meihoubam Rakesh on behalf of the petitioners, Justice T Nandakumar Singh, in his Imphal bench sitting, issued notices to the state government through the commissioner, municipal administration, housing and urban development (Mahud) and the secretary/ executive officer of Imphal Municipal Council (IMC). The court asked these officials to give their replies within four weeks.
The petitioners contended that consequent to the state cabinet decision adopted on April 25 this year, all women vendors were evicted from Khwairamband Bazar and the evicted women were asked to carry out their vending activities at Lamphelpat area here where a large open field has been developed as a market.
Consequently, on April 26, a public meeting organized by street vendors, including the petitioners, decided to approach the Gauhati high court to air their grievances.
The petition said the Prime Minister, in his letter dated August 4, 2009 addressed to all the chief ministers in the country, said the Centre had revised the national policy on urban street vendors that was formulated in 2004. The revised policy aimed at ensuring that urban street vendors are given due recognition at national, state and local levels to pursue economic activity without harassment.
It also said the revised policy underscores the need for a legislative framework to enable street vendors to pursue an honest living, the petition said, while citing a recent Supreme Court verdict that said the fundamental rights of street vendors cannot be regulated without a proper law.