Vexed over the state government’s failure to meet the more than a decade-long demand for construction of a market shed at Khuman Lampak area in Imphal East, the Ima Panthoibi Street Vendors Union (IPSVU) on Saturday asked whether the government considered them refugees.
Speaking to the media at the Manipur Press Club in Imphal, IPSVU president Y Indrani said the street vendors of Khuman Lampak are a reflection of peaceful coexistence among different ethnic groups of Manipur as it is the epicentre of all communities.
Unfortunately, the vendors, who have been struggling on a day to day basis to run their families, were harassed and chased away by police personnel on several occasions during VIP movement, she said.
She said request had been made to the then Congress government in 2011 for construction of a market shed for the street vendors even by way of pinpointing the location in the state land inside the APEX Complex which remains a wasteland.
As per the request, the work order was sanctioned in 2013, but till date the government has not constructed any market shed, she added.
Indrani further said the same demand has also been appraised to the present government in the form of several memorandums; however, the government remained as a mute spectator.
The president lastly drew the attention of the state government to acknowledge such a market centre of unity in diversity and considered fulfilling their small and simple demand.
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