Karukol (SGH), Oct 25: The Garo Students’ Union (GSU) – Karukol regional unit has raised questions with the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) over the huge presence of vendors from Assam of non tribal nature, who were operating in the various weekly markets in the district of South Garo Hills (SGH).
The matter was raised by the GSU following a surprise visit to check on vendors working without a valid Trading for Non-Tribals (TNT) licenses and found almost all those that were there having no such documents. The visit was paid to the weekly bazaar at Balkal under Karukol area on Oct 23.
The Union alleged that these same vendors can also be found in nearby markets including Nengkong and Emangre.
“It is essential and mandatory to procure TNT from the GHADC by non-tribals for trading in Garo Hills. These vendors come from remote areas of Assam to capture the business flow in these weekly markets. Are the GHADC blind to this or is there a loophole in the system? It is really a sad state of affairs that such loopholes are being exploited by those that are coming from outside and taking advantage of the system,” said general secretary, Francis Marak.
Marak stated that it was a shame that even Garos have to pay professional taxes while those operating from outside the state pay nothing.
The CSO has sought action on the matter at the earliest.
