PM Tarique directs officials to ensure ‘comfortable’ relocation for hawkers

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has directed authorities to take immediate steps for the rehabilitation of hawkers who were recently evicted from Dhaka’s streets and footpaths.

He issued the directive during a meeting with senior officials from the Local Government Division, Dhaka’s two city corporations, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) at his office in Tejgaon on Saturday.

“The premier ordered that evicted hawkers be relocated to alternative sites where they can conduct their businesses comfortably and with enthusiasm,” Tarique’s Additional Press Secretary Atiqur Rahman Rumon told reporters following the meeting.

The government has decided to provide alternative spaces for the affected traders and introduce a registration system.

Under this initiative, hawkers will be issued identity cards to ensure their activities are managed in an orderly and disciplined manner.

The move follows recent large-scale eviction drives in Mirpur-1 under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), and in Motijheel, Baitul Mukarram, Paltan, and Gulistan under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).

Beyond the hawker issue, Tarique emphasised the need to reduce traffic congestion during the peak hours when schools and colleges begin and end their sessions.

Noting that unregulated parking outside educational institutions is a major cause of gridlock, he suggested that schools use a portion of their own playgrounds for vehicle parking to ease the pressure on public roads.