Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 23: Severely hit by the New Excise Policy and rendered jobless since its implementation, the erstwhile wine traders have demanded restoration of their livelihood.
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Talking to media persons, here today, they appealed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do justice with the aggrieved families of erstwhile wine traders and sympathetically consider their demand for restoration of livelihood.
“It was insensitive and inhuman on part of the J&K administration to snatch livelihood of thousands of families, particularly at the current time of unprecedented situation because of Covid pandemic,” said Charanjeet Singh, spokesperson and former president of Jammu Wine Traders Association.
He feared that if livelihood of the erstwhile wine traders is not restored by the Government, some of them might slip into depression because of acute financial crunch they are facing since rendered jobless.
Claiming that the erstwhile licensees were small traders who were earning their livelihood from this business and their income was just to bear their day today expenses, Charanjeet Singh informed that around 30,000 families were directly or indirectly involved in earning their livelihood from this business and most of the erstwhile licensees were widows, senior citizens and unemployed youth who have no other source of income.
“We have become jobless and our bank loans are turning NPA while some of the aggrieved families are forced to discontinue further studies of their children as they are not in a position to pay their fee,” he added and reiterated the demand for restoration of the livelihood of erstwhile wine traders.
Others, who spoke on the occasion, included Digvijay Singh (Ex-President), Sanjay Verma and Raju Gandotra.
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