THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi (KVVES) on Thursday staged an ‘empty pot’ protest in front of the Secretariat. The protest was against the alleged neglect towards retailers in the state and central budgets. The traders’ demands included a revision in the GST slabs, a national retailing policy and also efforts to control e-commerce monopolies.
KVVES state patron Kamalalayam Suku inaugurated the dharna. He said the government ignored small-scale traders and shops for a long time. “The country can progress only through economic activities through small and medium businesses. New taxes will affect the purchasing power of people. It will affect the local economy. The state and central budgets will speed up the destruction of local trade,” he said.
KVVES state secretary S S Manoj called for reforms in GST. The hike in taxes will break the backbone of the trade sector. He criticised the state government for slashing the welfare fund pension for traders.
The monthly payment was reduced from Rs 1,600 to Rs 1300 from January 2022. He said the Rs 1,000 crore trade loan subsidy scheme for small traders announced in the 2022-23 budget did not materialise. The government’s directive to obtain health cards for all hotel workers is impractical. The government did not respond to the traders’ demand to resolve the disputes related to the VAT regime, he said.