By IANS
Kanpur : Uttar Pradesh traders staged a demonstration here Wednesday demanding the cancellation of licences given to giant business houses and multinational companies for setting up mega-malls in the state.
However, the rally failed to have much of an impact as barely 1,000 traders participated in it. Even Banwari Lal Kanchal, the president of the Rashtriya Vyapar Mandal, who had called for the protest rally, did not join the demonstration.
The demonstrators marched down the city streets until the police intercepted them near the office of the district magistrate. The traders wanted to give the magistrate a memorandum addressed to the prime minister and the union finance minister.
The memorandum was received on behalf of the district magistrate by a junior official following which the traders dispersed.
In their memorandum, the traders have urged the prime minister and union finance minister to “cancel the licences given to Wallmart-Bharti, Reliance, Birla, Tata and Sahara” for setting up mega malls and giant retail stores.
“If at all mega malls have to be allowed, let these be set up at least 5 km outside the towns and that too with total participation of local traders,” the memorandum added.
A similar protest rally was held in Allahabad in front of the city’s only mall built by former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh’s son Ajeya Singh.
According to Pramod Jaiswal, who heads Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Mandal – the state level association of traders – a meeting has been planned for Aug 12 to chalk out a strategy for state-wide agitation.
“Our main objective is to oppose the entry of mega malls and multinational business houses in the name of promoting retail business here”, Jaiswal said.
“The entry of giant business houses, whether Indian or multinational, would drive 40 million petty traders to poverty and affect the 200 million people dependent on them,” he claimed.