The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Wednesday urged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to open the shops and markets in the national capital from June 1 following the essential Covid protocols that are to be adopted by the traders.

The trade leaders said that the closure of shops and markets due to the lockdown in Delhi for more than a month has affected them badly and their financial crisis had deepened.

“The trade leaders said that markets should be opened in Delhi from May 31 or June 1 with the mandatory following of all safety and security measures of Covid. There are mainly two types of markets in Delhi, the wholesale and retail markets and in view of their business nature, the meeting proposes that wholesale markets in Delhi should be allowed to open from 10 am to 4 pm and retail markets may be allowed to open from 12 noon to 7pm,” said Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, CAIT.

The trade leaders also said that the street vendors should be allowed to earn their livelihood from hawking zones as a temporary measure and till the time a policy is made, they should be allowed to run their business in Courtyards of Government Schools which are lying vacant due to closure of schools in order to ensure earning their livelihood, he added.

“The wholesale and retail businesses are being run simultaneously in many markets and in such a condition the markets should be allowed to choose either of these two options, while the Metro Rail service in Delhi should be allowed to run under fixed time on the basis of the above suggestions, so that the traders and their employees can be allowed to travel ,” said Khandelwal.

Published on May 26, 2021