By IANS,
Ranchi : Food grain traders in Jharkhand will shut their shops and hold a rally here Wednesday to protest new provisions of the Essential Commodities Act.
“We will hold a maha rally of traders on Wednesday in Ranchi. More than 1,500 traders in the food grain business will participate in the rally. We will also submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Madhu Koda,” Manoj Naerdi, president of the Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI), told IANS.
“The food grain traders will shut down their shops on Wednesday in protest,” he said.
After the central government reinforced the act in April following rising food prices, the state government introduced two provisions – making a licence compulsory for selling food grains and imposing a limit on stocks – which have angered the traders.
The traders point out that ‘inspector raj’ will again be enforced by implementing these provisions.
Jharkhand produces only half of the food grains of the total consumption in the state. Traders import wheat from Punjab, rice from Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, and edible oils and rice from Maharashtra.
“We cannot import rice, wheat, edible oils and sugar in bulk as the state government has set limits on the stocks,” said Arjun Jalan, former president of JCCI.