Vendors on protest
The cost of development is always with a price which the poor have to bear. Sometimes it is with a loss of their homes, their livelihoods, just thrown to the winds. It is with this in mind we found that some six shops were demolished only to make way for some others. This was basically not acceptable as those who lost their shops which means some 30 hungry people, with no means of livelihood, no food security.
In a country that has abundance of food with fertile ground producing enough food, it is deplorable that families face hunger like situations. The bureaucracy and their officials have lost the human heart to become sensitive to human need.
We tried to meet a number of officials with the hope that tey would get a place for rehabilitation, though they assured us, the vendors were kind of not believing them. They sat on a fast placing their demands and hoping the government would intervene as the social media made the protest viral.
Eventually we got them to accept to break their fast and got a member of the Legislative Assembly to come and break their fast. After three days on the fourth day around 10.am. Mr. Sanjay Paswan arrived on the spot. Each of them were garlanded and given a glass of sugarcane juice to break their fast.
Monitoring is on with the progress of the work and waiting for the official of the Bridge works department to keep up his promise. The daily visits to the office by the vendors is ensuring them that their issue is kept alive.