‘No decision taken’: Himachal govt’s U-turn on eateries order after backlash

The Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday, backtracking on minister Vikramaditya Singh’s statement, said that no decision regarding the mandatory display of names by stalls and eateries has been taken by the administration, reported PTI. This comes after Singh faced flak for his announcement regarding the rule, and was reprimanded by the Congress party.
Singh, the public works and urban development Minister, had on Wednesday told media that it would be mandatory for street vendors, especially those selling food items, to display their identity cards at their shops. He had said that the call had been taken on the lines of the one taken by the Uttar Pradesh government.
“We have decided to make it mandatory for the street vendors to display their ID cards given by the street vendor’s committee on the pattern adopted by the Uttar Pradesh government, which pioneered the idea,” Singh had said.
The state government assured that it has not taken any decision on the rule that mandates street vendors to display nameplates or other identification at their stalls.
BJP leader Jai Ram Thakur, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Himachal assembly, said that Singh must stick to his decision.
“If Vikramaditya Singh has talked about implementing vendors’ policy on the pattern of Uttar Pradesh, he should stick to his words,” Thakur said.
Vikramaditya Singh had said that the decision regarding the display of vendor names was taken due to “apprehension” by locals about the rising number of migrants in the state. He drew the censure of several leaders of the INDIA bloc when he posted his remarks on Facebook.
The directive did not go down well with a section of the party’s leaders, which slammed the decision and demanded its revocation. The central leadership intervened in the matter following which the state government’s clarification came, reported PTI quoting people aware of the matter.
AICC in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajiv Shukla said, “They (shop vendors) will be given licences and regulated so that police do not harass them. The designated places will require identification such as Aadhaar cards and licences, but there is no requirement for them to display a sign stating their name as the owner.”
The senior Congress leader also debunked the notion that the Himachal government followed the footsteps of Yogi Adityanath-led UP government.
“This is not on Yogi pattern, as those things are done in UP on communal pattern, which is not the case here. I want to clarify that the government has not given any such order… they (government or Vikramaditya) have not been reprimanded,” Shukla said.
(With inputs from PTI)