Reacting sharply to the recent sealing of shops by Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), the Kashmir Retailers Association (KRA) President, Farhan Kitab on Monday said the lack of awareness by SMC and ill timing of the action has created chaos in the markets.
In an appeal to the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, Kitab who is also the member of the All India Retailers Association, said that the retail sector is facing market slump due to Covid-19 pandemic and stormy year ahead due to the apprehension of the third wave, the government should have granted some amnesty/wavier to the shopkeepers who have been suffering since 2019 for one reason or the other.
According to a statement issued to a local news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), he said the shopkeepers are neither aware about the taxes nor about the hike, adding that it was the responsibility of the SMC to make the stakeholders aware.
“Moreover, the SMC should have taken the shopkeepers onboard before taking any such decision,” he added.
Kitab appealed the LG Sinha to personally look into the matter—(KNO)
