Retailers, traders threaten to defy lockdown and open shops from July 20

Retailers and small traders say economic stress due to frequent lockdowns has driven them to starvation

Mumbai: Retail shopkeepers and small traders from Maharashtra have threatened to defy the lockdown guidelines and to keep their establishments open from July 20 as they argue that owing to economic stress caused by frequent lockdowns they are being driven to the point of starvation.

In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on July 16, the Chamber of Associations of Maharashtra Industry and Trade (CAMIT) stated that the inability of the market to open now could result in economic disaster which the small traders may not be able to survive.

The CAMIT said that businesses and livelihoods were impacted so badly that small traders and retailers are on the verge of starvation with frequent lockdowns stretching for over four months now. Chairman of CAMIT, Mohan Gurnani said that while the concern of authorities over Corona was appreciated, the economic fallout arising out of the frequent lockdowns could not be ignored and urged a balance of the two to be maintained.

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The CAMIT arrived on this decision following a unanimous view among various member associations (there are 800 associations of retailers, wholesalers, small scale industries, traders etc affiliated to it), during a video conferencing meeting held on July 15. General Secretary of the Navi Mumbai Vyapari Mahasangh (NMVM), Pramod Joshi told thenews21, “We have about 15,000 establishments between Airoli and Belapur, who have decided to open our shops from July 20, even if the government chooses to extend the lockdown. Over 60,000 families are dependent on our shops and facing bankruptcy with EMI’s to pay, dues on goods purchased and salaries for workers. Being middle class deprives us of ration or other state relief measures. We got no relief from high electricity bills or property taxes and this just adds to our burden. If we don’t open our outlets, shopkeepers might end up committing suicide owing to economic depression.”

The NMVM is also upset that while their retail shops are closed, the neighbouring APMC markets and outlets like D-Mart, Reliance Mart etc are kept functional despite many instances of spread of Covid-19 from there. The situation is the same in other satellite towns of Mumbai, which are facing uncertainty about the lockdowns imposed.

Narsingh Das Vaishnav, founder member of the Mira-Bhayandar Readymade and Cloth Merchants Association says: “We are daily traders with low savings. Our workers have left us because of our inability to pay them salaries. Earlier, our shops were allowed to be opened for alternate days but now even that is not allowed. We have no clarity on when things will be allowed to be open daily like in neighbouring Mumbai district, where shops are open through the day despite spike in Covid cases.”