MAMMOTH RALLY OF 5 LAKH TRADERS HELD AT COIMBATORE TODAY
Vijyender Sharma
New Delhi-----In a rare show of strength more than 5 lakh traders of Tamilnadu today participated in a Traders Rally at codessia ground, Coimbatore in Tamilnadu and with a unanimous strong voice advocated bringing reforms in retail trade of India which is presently under threat of domination of multinational companies and the big corporate houses. The rally was organised by Tamilnadu Traders Associations Federation and was presided by its President Mr. A. M. Vikramraja. Mr. Praveen Khandelwal, National Secretary General and Mr. Mahendra Shah, Chairman of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) were the key speakers at the rally. Mr. K. Mohan, General Secretary and Mr. V.Govindarajulu, Treasurer of Tamilnadu Traders Federation were also present at the rally.
While communicating a straight no to FDI in Retail, Mr. Praveen Khandelwal expressed concern over the reported news of breach of FEMA rules and regulations by Flipkart and Myntra which are involved in e-commerce business in India. He demanded the Government to institute a inquiry in to the business format of all such Companies which are involved in e-commerce since such practices are proving to be threat to small traders in the Country. Mr. Khandelwal also demanded that business modalities and formats of multinational companies which are operating retail business in Wholesale cash & carry policy also needs to be interrogated. He said that under both above policies the FDI is allowed in B 2 B Business whereas these companies are found to conduct business operations in B 2 C and such the rules and regulations are flouted. He assured the gathering that these issues will be taken up by the CAIT once the incumbent government assumes office at Centre. He demanded for suitable amendment in law so that all such policy decisions and Foreign Trade Agreements and treaties with other nations should be ratified by the Parliament.
Addressing the gathering Mr.Khandelwal strongly advocated for a National Policy on Retail Trade and a separate Ministry of Internal Trade beside demanding a Retail Regulatory Authority to regulate retail trade of India. He lamented that core banking sectors has failed to provide needy finances to the traders and as such creation of an alternate financial mechanism for small traders is the need of the hour and for this purpose the Cooperative Banks and the Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) must be made more accountable towards small traders for advancing financial assistance. Mr. Khandelwal said that CAIT Core Committee is holding its meeting on 7th May at Nagpur to finalise its economic agenda which will be presented to incumbent Union Government and the CAIT will take serious steps to ensure that retail trade must be on priority of the new government.
Mr. Mahendra Shah, Chairman of the CAIT in his address to the mammoth crowd stress over the need of regulations in Commodity exchanges which are ruining the retail trade because of their speculative business. He also advocated early implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) but with prior consultations with stakeholders. Simplification and rationalisation of the tax system is the need of the hour-he added.
Mr, Vikram Raja, President of Tamilnadu Traders Associations Federation called for urgent steps to bring necessary amendments in The Food Safety & Standards Act and also cautioned that if traders are not taken into confidence, there will be a nationwide agitation by the trading community. He reminded that outgoing Union Health Minister Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad had assured the traders to constitute a joint committee of senior officials and trade representatives for conducting an in-depth study of the said Act but so far no steps have been taken. He also demanded reforms in Service Tax and Income Tax to make it a simple law for easy compliance by the traders.
There are about six crore business establishments in retail trade which provides employment to about 25 crore people generating an annual business of more than 20 lakh crores of rupees and inspite of such a magnificient contribution to national exchequer, so the retail trade has been grossly neglected by all governments.
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**VijyenderSharma*, Press Correspondent Bohan Dehra Road JAWALAMUKHI-176031, Kangra HP(INDIA)*
Contact Number is 09736276343Mobile
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