Opening of shops for 2 hours
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 17: An urgent meeting was held at Chamber House under the chairmanship of Arun Gupta president Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCI) Jammu along with the office bearers in which CCI expressed displeasure over Government order allowing shops dealing with non-essential goods to open for just two hours on Wednesday and Thursday that too with a bar that traders will not sell any goods and use the permission only for stock checking.
In a statement issued to media persons, Arun Gupta while expressing grave concern over the indifference of those manning the affairs of the UT said that the decision is nothing but big joke with the business fraternity of the region. He said by giving mere two hours to open up the shops for just a day in week, the Government has given an indication that it is least bothered about the business community of Jammu region as nearly 20 days have passed and the businessmen here have not earned a penny.
“The liabilities of the business class are mounting with each passing day. The electricity bill, workers’ salary, bank loan installments, etc, are all piling up but the Government has issued directions without considering any of these aspects”, he said and demanded that Government should allow the businessmen to work for some days in the week and the installments of the loans should either be waived off or at least deferred for some time. He said that Government cannot become so harsh towards the traders since they are the pillars of the economy of the UT.
“The continued closure of these shops due to Corona curfew has exacerbated the inconvenience to the people and should be addressed rationally,” he said adding that the Government should take a lenient view in this regard and allow good number of business hours to the traders with a stipulation to follow all the SOPs in letter and spirit so that the exercise doesn’t contribute in the surge of Corona cases. He said that such adamant attitude of the Government can bring devastation in the lives of traders as their earnings have been hit very hard and many of them are on the verge of starvation. He said that any delay in the matter can prove detrimental for the economy of the UT making the life of business class full of hardships therefore it is necessary that those sitting at helm must come up with a feasible plan to resume business and bring life of business community and the people of the UT back on tracks.
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