‘Relaxations not enough’, city traders seek relief package

Times News Network
Ludhiana: Even after the government increased the business hours and lifted Saturday’s lockdown, the city’s traders and shopkeepers gave a thumbs down to these relaxations in the Covid-19 restrictions. They want a relief package that brings them out for the lockdown-forced financial crisis.
Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) state general secretary Sunil Mehra said: “The count of coronavirus cases has declined drastically, which has encouraged the state government to increase the operational timings of the shops and offices and lift Saturday’s lockdown. We welcome these changes but these alone aren’t going to help us. What we need at this stage is a relief package to overcome the crisis we have gone into. During the lockdowns, the shop sales were down to only 5% but the expenses did not reduce, and these remain the same. Every trader in the market is debt-ridden now and it is hard for us to come out of this problem without any support from the government.”
Mehra said if the state government wanted to save the traders and thousands of jobs, it should be quick to declare a relief package of paying them back a minimum of two months’ electricity charges. They also need support for paying bank interest and staff salaries. Besides this, the government should also waive municipal duties such as property tax for at least two years to get the shops and offices back on course.”
Business Bachao Morcha president Gurdeep Singh Gosha said: “Frequent lockdowns have broken the backbone of the trader fraternity. Our earnings have vanished due to a huge drop in sales, while our expenses such as interest on bank loans, electricity bills, and staff salaries have remained the same. This is pushing us into complete financial mess. Every shopkeeper, be it wholesaler or retailer, has suffered huge losses due to the lockdown and it seems unlikely that even 30% of these businessmen will ever recover. The only solution is for the state government to announce a relief package for the small traders and shopkeepers. This is the least required to save them.”