KOCHI: In a major shot in the arm to the Better Kochi Response Group's (BKRG) 'Say No To Hartal' campaign, the Kerala State Private Bus Operators' Federation ( KSPBOF) and Kerala Hotel and Restaurants' Association (KHRA) in the district have decided to defy the hartal called by Dalit organisations on Monday. M B Sathyan and Lawrence Babu, KSPBOF president and secretary respectively, in a release said buses will ply as usual on hartal day.
"The hartal is being called by the Dalit Liberation Front and feeder organisations. We are not against the demands made by the Dalit outfits. But we cannot endorse the hartals which drain the public and private sector. A hartal had been called as recently as on April 2. We cannot afford to have yet another hartal during the following week as it will further increase the heavy losses we incur," said Sathyan.
He said besides paralysing normal life, the hartals will bring the construction sector and industry to a standstill resulting in losses worth several crores. Meanwhile, BKRG president S Gopakumar said hartals have emerged as one of the major problems confronting Kerala presently. "Knowingly or unknowingly people fall for this out of the fear factor. Most of the hartals do more harm than good. We requested KHRA president Abdul Raheem and they too have agreed to open hotels and restaurants on April 9," he said.
According to Gopakumar, though the hartals are normally observed from dawn-to-dusk, majority of the traders do not bother to open their establishments after 6 pm thereby greatly inconveniencing the public. "Our volunteers do a great job by ferrying people, patients, and visitors to the city during the hartals," he said.