The Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government has mandated food vendors and eateries across the hill state to display the owners’ names and addresses for the convenience of customers.
Himachal Pradesh’s Minister for Public Works Department and Urban Development, Vikramaditya Singh, said that the owner’s ID card will have to be displayed in every eatery and food stall, Indian Express reported.
A decision to implement this order was taken during a meeting of the state’s Urban Development and Municipal Corporation on Tuesday. The hill state’s Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has formed a seven-member committee, including Ministers Vikramaditya Singh and Anirudh Singh, to implement the order, India Today reported.
A day after the decision was taken at a meeting held at his office, Singh posted on Facebook, “In Himachal Pradesh too, every eatery and fast food cart will have to display the owner’s ID so customers don’t face any sort of inconvenience. To this effect, an order has been passed in a meeting of the Urban Development and Municipal Corporation. Jai Shri Ram.”
Himachal’s order comes on the lines of a similar diktat issued by the Uttar Pradesh government under which operators, proprietors, and managers must clearly display their names and addresses at all food and drink establishments.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Vikramaditya, the son of six-time CM Virbhadra Singh, said, “There was unrest in our state in the last few days. Our decisions are not driven by any other state. The display of identity cards will be mandatory for all vendors – be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian or from any other community. There are instructions to us from the High Court to make vending zones, vending policy in the state. Recent unrest was linked to the absence of a strong vending policy.”
The decision was made during a meeting held at Vikramaditya’s office, convened to finalize the state’s Street Vending Policy, which has drawn attention since the September 11 incident involving Shimla’s Sanjauli mosque. The communal tensions earlier this month stemmed from a dispute between two shopkeepers from different communities.
It was also decided in the meeting that all street vendors will display their ID cards and vending licence once the policy is finalised by December 15 this year.