State beopar body demands pension, perks for traders

Ludhiana: Irked over successive governments ignoring their demands, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) on Sunday launched a new campaign to make their voice heard. During a meeting held at Ludhiana on Sunday, the PPBM started Jago Vyapari Andolan under which sessions will be organised across the state to discuss issues of the traders’ fraternity.
PPBM state president Piara Lal Seth said, “Through this campaign we will also ensure that all our pending demands are fulfilled by the government within stipulated time. We got huge response from Ludhiana’s traders as they turned up in large numbers today not only to attend our program but also to share their suggestions and pledge support to us.”
According to Sunil Mehra, state general secretary of PPBM said, “Our first and foremost demand is that all the application and grant of licences, permissions and statutory compliances are made online by the state government so that there can be no scope for corruption and harassment of businessmen by officials of any department. Besides this, other major demand include simplification of the GST and the rules and regulations governing the law should be revised in order to ensure that the innocent businessmen are not penalised for the mistakes committed inadvertently.”
According to Sameer Jain, state general secretary of PPBM, “State and central government should introduce e-commerce portal, which should be connected with the local markets so that the small traders can also sell their products online. Government should also start new trading hubs and allot shops at reasonable rates to small shopkeepers and street vendors.”