Claiming the City Between Two Laws

After a long drawn legal battle, the Meghalaya High Court in 2022 repealed the contentious Meghalaya Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014 and ordered the implementation of the central Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014. This paper examines the replacement of the State Act with the Central Act and briefly delves into the social and urban historical context of Shillong to situate the role of law and rights of vendors. In view of the developments in the last decade on street vending regulation and a movement for reform led by street vendors in Shillong, Meghalaya, this paper raises questions that require further enquiry and research. Thus, the paper provides a preliminary glimpse into intersections between the right to livelihood, urban spatial governance, and legislative intervention in the specific geographical historical context of north-east India. The aim of the paper is to introduce an urban context of street vendors’ mobilisation and legal battles that are not documented in academic literature on the subject. The paper points to the specific context of Shillong as a borderland urban centre, with a complex demographic and social history. The paper argues that street vendor mobilisation in Shillong towards the replacement of the State Act with the Central Act opened the possibility of an inclusive and progressive politics that challenged mainstream ethnic and caste based politics that marks the city

Civil engineering · Political science · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Engineering · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Labor Movements and Unions · Law