Deputy Speaker pulls up officials for harassing vendors in Jind

A drama unfolded in Jind after Deputy Speaker and local MLA Krishan Middha today publicly reprimanded government officials for allegedly removing street vendors from Diwankhana market without prior notice or alternative arrangements during an anti-encroachment drive.

The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) had recently carried out the anti-encroachment drive in the area. Many of the affected shopkeepers had been running makeshift stalls and wooden platform setups, using the open market space to earn their livelihood.

Displaced vendors approached Middha, seeking intervention. He visited the site with his team and reprimanded officials. In a video that went viral, Middha is seen walking beside an officer, scolding him for the drive.

He accused the HSVP team of acting without due process, claiming no formal notices were issued to the vendors and that the demolition was carried out without even an hour's warning. To highlight the gravity of the situation, he directed SDO Tarun and his team to sit on the ground, alongside the vendors — a symbolic move underscoring his solidarity with the displaced.

“The officials didn’t even think of offering alternatives. They just tore down poor people’s livelihoods,” Middha said, and announced that he would personally compensate the shopkeepers for their losses.

Continuing his tirade, he accused the officials of showing no empathy. “You can’t understand the pain of the poor,” he remarked.