Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 14: Intensifying its opposition to Walmart Flipkart deal and FDI in retail, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) is all set to initiate a countrywide agitation on this burning issue with holding a ” Bharat Trade Bandh” on September 28.
All the shops and small business establishments across the country will remain closed on the day of Bandh and no commercial activity will took place. About 7 crore small traders are expected to participate in the Bandh.
Click here to watch video
Talking to media persons here today, Neeraj Anand, vice president CAIT and president Chamber of Traders Federation, Jammu said that J&K traders would also join the strike. He said the CAIT is launching a 90 days Digital Rath Yatra beginning September 15, from Delhi and will culminate into a mammoth rally at New Delhi on December 16. The CAIT will release a Traders Charter having various issues including `No to FDI in Retail’.
Anand said as already described by CAIT National president, BC Bhartia recently, the Walmart-Flipkart combination will deadly destroy the retail trade of India as Walmart will be using e-commerce platform to flood the retail market with goods sourced from all over the globe. Not only the traders but even the domestic manufacturing sector will be adversely affected to a great extent. As per media reports after Walmart now it is Amazon and Alibaba looking for same kind of deal which will be quite alarming as the retail trade will be squeezed in few hands which will lead to monopoly and crony capitalism.
Under the circumstances, the CAIT has given a call of “Bharat Trade Bandh” on forthcoming September 28 to register the strong protest of domestic trade and demanding immediate interference of the Government to reject the deal as it has violated Press Note 3 of 2016 of the Government. There is spontaneous response from all States towards the Bandh, he added.
“This is a serious issue and is linked to livelihood of crores of small traders and in a small city like Jammu the impact is already visible resulting in further migration of Dogra youth. Bad policies of State Govt like continuation of Toll tax on goods is adversely affecting the genuine dealer while unscrupulous dealers are exploiting the situation to their advantage,” added Neeraj.
Speaking further he said that National body has directed us to reach out to maximum trade associations across Jammu region to educate the vulnerable small traders against the ills of FDI and how it will shut their shops if not opposed vehemently by one and all. He also appealed to all associations to make `Bharat Trade Bandh on September 28 a grand success.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
