The Hindu Business Line : Protest in Mumbai against corporate retailers

Mumbai, Oct 10 Around 15,000 retailers, wholesalers and hawkers congregated at the Azad Maidan to support anti-retail protests organised by Vyapaar Rozgaar Suraksha Kriti Samiti. “Five crore traders across the country stand to lose their employment if the Government does not pay heed to our pleas. We will give the Government time till January 26 to respond to our demands; if our demands are not met, we will go for a nationwide strike,” said Mr Mohan Gurnani, President Federation of Associations of Maharashtra.

Entry of MNCS

The various retail/ wholesale organisations were protesting entry of multinationals and big corporate houses in retail trade, though some like Mr Dharmendra Kumar, Director, India FDI Watch, demanded closure of all corporate bodies in retail, big and small.

“Our main targets are Reliance, Wal-Mart and Bharti, but we are also protesting against others such as Spencers and Subhiksha. Reliance opened 15 shops in one day, which is quite alarming and since they can open small neighbourhood shops, unlike Big Bazaar, which is a bigger format, they are more threatening for the vendors,” he said.

The Agricultural Produce Market Committee members claimed to have shut shop for the day, as wholesalers attended the protest meet. “For the first time, retailers have also closed their shops, despite the festive season to attend this protest. They have been facing 30 per cent direct loss in sales due to the presence of malls,” said Mr Ramnik Chheda, President Retail Grams Dealers Federation.

Mr Vivek Monteiro, Secretary, CITU, said, “We want three demands to be met by this protest. There should be a blanket ban on foreign direct investment in retail; zoning restrictions should be brought in stating that retail outlets over and above a certain size should be treated as wholesalers and licensing policies to be introduced where entry will be regulated by a joint committee of representatives of government and retailers/ wholesalers.”

Stressing on the need to implement the NAPC Act for hawkers, Mr Narendra Anasaheb Patil, General Secretary of Mathadi Kamgar Union, which has 750 unions under it, said, “Today the retailer is claiming to sell at a lower price to customers, but five years down the line, when it will enjoy a certain monopoly, they will procure for less and sell for more.”

Mr Shyam Bihari Mishra of the BJP and former MP from UP said that the political parties, in power or the opposition, were hand in gloves with the corporate bodies, which invested Rs 6,000 crore in retail in comparison to the small traders’ investment of Rs 2-5 lakh.

The Kerala Government has already restricted the entry of retail outlets and UP, Bihar and Jharkhand saw protests.

Meanwhile, the Mahindra group announced entry into retail trade today, with Mahindra Retail.

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