Puri: The district administration is yet to rehabilitate at least 144 vendors whom it had evicted from the Lions’ Gate of Srimandir during the Nabakalebara festival of the presiding deities in 1996.
Nilachala Vending Stall Owners’ Association, an outfit of the evicted vendors, has recently submitted memorandums to the district collector and district tourism officer seeking early rehabilitation at crafts complex near Srijagannath Ballav Mutt in the city here.
The outfit claimed that at least 60 evicted vendors are now running their business on footpaths while many others have closed down their makeshift stalls. According to the vendors, the tourism department has recently sought applications from interested parties for allocation of stalls at the crafts complex.
The department had issued a notice in this regard July 24 and expressed its commitment to give priority to evicted vendors and renowned craftsmen while allocating stalls at the crafts complex.
“Many people have submitted their applications by claiming themselves as eminent artisans or evicted vendors. We urge the district administration and tourism department to constitute a panel to verify the applications properly. The administration should identify the evicted stall owners of 1996 and allocate shops accordingly,” said an office bearer of the outfit.
The evicted stall owners claimed that only 27 of them have applied for shops at the crafts complex by submitting the security amount, while a few poor vendors were unable to deposit the money. “The administration should consider the cases of poor vendors sympathetically and allow them to deposit the security amount in instalments,” said the outfit.
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