ROURKELA: Retail and wholesale business activities across Rourkela and rest of Sundargarh district remained closed for 12 hours on Friday with the trading community joining the nation-wide stir called by Confederation of All-India Traders (CAIT).The trading community is opposing Walmart-Flipkart deal and FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in retail trade.
At Rourkela, members of CAIT, Rourkela Chamber of Commerce & Industry (RCCI), Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) and Rourkela Ispat Market Byabsayee Sangh (RIMVS) took out a protest march and sent separate memoranda to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through Rourkela ADM.
CAIT national vice-president Brij Mohan Agarwal claimed that the domestic retail sector with annual business of about `42 lakh crore is the second largest employment generator after agriculture. He said the domestic trading community and national economy are under threat due to the present economic policies.
Agarwal said they demanded formation of a high-level committee, led by a Union Minister, to study in detail the genuine grievances of domestic traders. CAIT also demands national policy on retail trade and e-commerce and setting up of a separate Ministry of retail sector.