Ima Panthoibi Street Vendors Union (IPSVU), Khuman Lampak, has called on the state government to construct a market shed opposite the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT), Khuman Lampak in Imphal. The union threatened to hold various forms of agitation if their demand is not met at the earliest.
Addressing mediapersons near ISBT in Imphal on Sunday, IPSVU president Y Indrani Devi said that they have been urging the state government for construction of a market shed for street vendors vending at Khuman Lampak area since 2011.
The fund was also released last year by North East Council (NEC) for the construction of the said women’s market opposite ISBT, Khuman Lampak. But not a single initiative has been taken up for construction of the market, she said.
She further said that as many as 500 street vendors from various communities are selling produce along the roadside of Khuman Lampak area. They have been striving their life just to make their ends meet, battling many inconveniences. The state government should encourage and support those downtrodden women by understanding their plight and troubles, she added.
“We street vendors face a lot of problems throughout the year just to earn a few amounts of money and run the family. Selling items on the roadside in this scorching heat and unpredictable rainfall weather condition and dusty road is not an easy task. The state government should try to understand how women vendors would tolerate all those odds,” she lamented while appealing to the authorities concerned to fulfil their demand at the earliest.
She further said that every woman should be economically independent to live a happy life.
As empowering women is one of the key agenda of the present government, it is hoped that the authorities concerned would surely accomplish their demand, she added.
