Textile industries’ request for lockdown relaxation turned down

Surat: Two groups of various associations of the textile industry met city police commissioner Ajay Tomar on Wednesday with different requests for relaxation in the lockdown norms. However, demands of both the groups were turned down by Tomar.
One of the groups is now planning to approach the state government through ministers and MLAs with the same requests. The restrictions to keep the commercial complexes closed have been extended by the government till May 12 to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA) requested that shops be allowed to remain open for few hours so that the businessmen can to complete their banking work. The FOSTTA didn’t demand for the markets to be allowed to open for the usual business.
The other group consisting Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI), The Federation of Gujarat Weavers Association (FOGWA), Surat Mercantile Association (SMA) and South Gujarat Textile Processors’ Association (SGTPA) met the police commissioner separately and demanded that the markets to be allowed to remain open from 10 am to 4 pm.
SGCCI formed a Textile Task Force with representatives of FOGWA, SGTPA, SMA and others. In a meeting of the task force it was planned to make representation to the police and government to allow the markets to remain open for business-to-business transactions. It was also proposed that the markets can be allowed to remain open on odd-even formula.
“The committee proposed that the market should be allowed to remain open for business-to-business transactions while keeping the restrictions on for the retail customers. But the city police commissioner has turned down our requests. Now, we are making the representation to the government through ministers and MLAs,” said Dinesh Navadiya, president, SGCCI.
“We do not agree with the task force’s demands. But FOSTTA was demanding that we should be allowed to open our shops for a couple of hours so that we can complete our banking transactions. We respect the decision since it is needed to contain the spread of the infection,” said Manoj Agarwal, president FOSTTA.