Facing flak over Minister Vikramaditya Singh's announcement on the mandatory display of names by street vendors, the Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday said no such decision has been taken.
Singh, the state Public Works and Urban Development Minister, had on Wednesday told reporters that it would be mandatory for street vendors, especially those selling food items, to display their identity cards at their shops.
The decision, he had said, was inspired by a similar directive announced by the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government.
Distancing itself from Singh's statement, the state in a statement said it has not taken any decision that makes it mandatory for street vendors to display nameplates or other identification at their stalls.
Singh had said the decision was taken considering "apprehensions" expressed by several locals about the rising numbers of migrants in the state.
He also drew the censure of several leaders of the INDIA bloc when he posted his remarks on Facebook.
Sources in Delhi said the central leadership intervened in the matter following which the state government’s clarification came.
AICC in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajiv Shukla said he has discussed the issue with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh.
He said the matter sprang from the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly forming a committee to designate specific areas for street vendors, including those selling food and other items.
"They will be given licenses and regulated so that police do not harass them. The designated places will require identification such as Aadhaar cards and licenses, but there is no requirement for them to display a sign stating their name as the owner," Shukla told reporters in Jammu.
"The aim is to ensure that street vendors have proper locations to operate without disrupting traffic, especially since it is a hilly area and has narrow roads...," he said.
The veteran Congress leader also debunked the notion that the HP govt took a leave from UP in forging the policy.
"This is not on Yogi pattern, as those things are done in UP on communal pattern, which is not the case here. I want to clarify that the government has not given any such order... they (government or Vikramaditya) have not been reprimanded," Shukla said.
BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said Singh must stick to his words.
"If Vikramaditya Singh has talked about implementing vendors' policy on the pattern of Uttar Pradesh, he should stick to his words," Thakur, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, said.
Himachal Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, who had last week constituted a seven-member committee for framing vendors policy, said that the matter was under consideration of an all-party house committee.
The committee, headed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, has as its members cabinet ministers Vikramaditya Singh and Anirudh Singh, BJP MLAs Satpal Singh Satti, Anil Sharma, and Randhir Sharma, and Congress MLA Harish Janartha.
A spokesperson of the state government said that numerous suggestions have been received from different sections of society on the street vendor policy.
"So far, the government has not taken any decision to mandatorily display nameplates or other identification by the vendors on their stalls," the spokesperson said.
The committee will hold its meeting on October 3.
Former Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister T S Singh Deo slammed the Wednesday announcement, asking why must anyone brandish their credentials.
"I don't agree with this. What's the need of it? A street vendor can sell clothes, towels, bedsheets, etc, and is promoting a particular brand. Why would one need to write his or her name?
"(Street vendors) should display the items which they are selling. If I am selling something, I will mention what I am selling. Why would I write T S Singh Deo?"
He said such shops are already under the purview of local civic bodies, which anyway require them to register their establishments.
"There is no need for caste or religion in it. The hawkers come under vendors act, they get a token and their registration is with the local body. How can the display of names be important?" the Congress leader told PTI Videos.
CPI-Marxist leader and former Mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation Sanjay Chauhan in a post said that the Street Vendors Act was implemented in 2017 in Shimla, following which the town vending committee had started the process of giving license to 583 vendors and 1,500 places were identified as vending zones.
The controversial decision announced on Wednesday had come following massive protests weeks ago for the demolition of alleged unauthorised portions of a mosque in Sanjauli.
Demonstrations were held across the state by Hindu outfits, who demanded workers coming from outside to work in Himachal Pradesh be registered.
Citing alleged incidents of spitting and mixing of urine in eatables, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Tuesday ordered operators, proprietors, and managers of food stalls to mandatorily display their names and addresses at their shops.
He also ordered that chefs and waiters must wear masks and gloves, and made mandatory that CCTV cameras be mounted in hotels and restaurants.
