Committee for framing Street Vendor Policy constituted

Amidst the escalating communal tension over the entry of outsiders into Himachal without verification, Vidhan Sabha on Friday constituted a committee for framing a Street Vendor Policy.

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Pathania today issued a notification for the setting up of the committee to frame guidelines for the Street Vendor Policy.

The committee will be headed by Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, while Rural Development Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh and MLAs Anil Sharma, Satpal Singh Satti, Randhir Sharma and Harish Janartha will be its members. Principal Secretary (Urban Development) will be the Member Secretary of the committee.

The committee has been constituted following consensus among both Congress and BJP legislators that a Vidhan Sabha committee will frame a policy which will lay down norms for grant of licenses to street vendors. During the monsoon session, legislators, cutting across party lines had demanded that a committee should be constituted by the Vidhan Sabha Speaker with MLAs from both parties to frame a policy.

Protests have erupted all over the state following outrage against the construction of a multi-storeyed mosque in Sanjauli area of the state capital. Following this, people all across the state have been demanding that there should be identification, registration and proper verification of the antecedents of people coming to Himachal for work from outside the state.