NON CORPORATE SECTOR HOLD ITS MAJOR SHOW AT A MEGA RALLY AT NEW DELHI TODAY

The India Uninc comprising of Traders, Transporters, Truck Operators, SMEs, Hawkers, Self Employed and Women entrepreneurs in a unanimous loud voice today urged the Union Government to shift its focus from India Inc. to India Uninc. in order to exhilarate the growth in Indian economy. ” The India Uninc- the non corporate sector of the Country has outperformed the Corporate sector in GDP contribution, domestic manufacturing, employment and exports and as such the India Uninc. must be given priority in Government policies. Post Independence, the India Uninc. is grossly neglected by the Government”- the loud voice echoed the sentiments of tens of thousands of people from all over the Country, who participated in a Mega Rally held today at Ramlila Maidan at New Delhi. The Rally urged the Government to constitute a Board of Internal Trade to look into issues of India Uninc in a comprehensive way. Mr. B. C. Bhartia, National President of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) presided the Rally which was organized by the Confederation of All India Traders in association with Action Committee For Formal Finance For Non Corporate Small Business.

The Rally expressed its gratitude to Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley for Government’s landmark initiative to create a separate financial architecture for SMEs in India and in persuasion of this budget announcement, the Government has already constituted a Committee under Chairmanship of Mr. K.V.Kamath, Chairman, ICICI Bank and the Committee will be submitting its report in near future. ” The core banking sector has failed to advance financial assistance to non corporate sector as so far only 4% of this sector could able to obtain finances from banks and rest of 96% is dependent upon private moneylenders etc. and as such the creation of a separate financial architecture will certainly translate the informal sector into formal sector. It is a major step of the Government to “fund for unfunded”.-said Mr. Praveen Khandelwal, CAIT Secretary General and National Coordinator of Action Committee For Formal Finance For Non Corporate Small Business.

The Rally also thanked Union Urban Development Minister Mr. Venkiah Naidu for moving a Bill in Parliament couple of days back seeking extension of The National Capital Territory Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Act,2011, for another period till Year 2017 for providing immunity cover to people of Delhi from sealing & demolitions. Such an extension will benefit more than 5 lac traders in Delhi. The Rally urged Mr. Naidu to take immediate steps to re-draft the Delhi Rent Act and protect the old tenants of evictions from their business premises. On the lines of other States in the Country a cut off date must be spelled out in Rent Act of Delhi so that old tenants who have already paid “pugree” an amount equal to value of the property must be protected- said Mr. Ramesh Khanna, CAIT Delhi State President.

In a memorandum given to Mr. Venkaiah Naidu at the Rally, the India Uninc expressed its deep concern over unethical business practices being followed in online retail business which has created an uneven level playing field for offline traders and demanded that when rest of trade & commerce in the Country is subject to plethora of Laws & Acts, specified Rules & Regulations must be spelled out for e commerce business in India. Countries like USA, UK, China, European Union etc also have specified Laws which govern online trade. The Rally demanded the Government to conduct a probe into business modules of online retailers, their funding structure, tax compliance and abuse of dominant position and formation of a Retail Development Authority to monitor the entire gamut of Indian retail trade-asked Mr. Brij Mohan Aggrawal, President, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

In a unanimous voice, the Rally urged the Government not to allow FDI in Retail E Commerce as it will prove to be much detrimental to domestic trade and commerce. ” We appreciate the commitment of the Government for not allowing FDI in Retail and on same lines the FDI in Retail E Commerce should be dealt by the Government.The need of the hour is to spell out a policy to upgrade and modernize the existing retail trade to make it compatible to meet any global challenges. The Rally also urged the Government to formulate a National Policy for Retail Trade and a separate Ministry of Internal Trade both at Centre and States-said Mr. Pradeep Singhal, Working President, All India Transport Welfare Association.

The Goods & Services Tax (GST) is the ultimate tax reform in the Country and therefore a simplified tax structure which encourage voluntary compliance which in turn will widen the tax base, is the need and as such a Single Tax, Single Authority simplified GST taxation system should be introduced in the Country which should invariably include not only uniform GST law but even uniform definitions & charging sections, uniform tax rate, removal of  inter-state trade barriers like entry forms and road permits. Such a GST will make tax compliance better. The Rally also urged the Government to initiate a dialogue on GST with stakeholders as they are the real carriers of any taxation system-said Mr. B.C.Bhartia, CAIT National President.

The Food Safety & Standard Act is a law which is designed to give all advantages to Multinational Companies to control & dominate food business in India. The Act needs a re-drafting after considering the ground realties of Indian Food Business and food habits of countrymen. The Rally urged the Government to withdraw the said Act and constitute a Joint Committee of Officials & stakeholders to deliberate upon the FSSA. The last date for submitting applications for registration under the Act is 4th February, 2015 and therefore speedy action from the Government will protect the trading community from gross harassment by the Authorities-said Mr. A. M. Vikramraja, President, Tamilnadu Vanigar Sangakalin Peraimappu, Chennai.

The National Urban Street Vendor Policy was notified in the year 2009 but till now the policy is not being implemented across the Country. The policy has emphasized the magnificient contribution of hawkers in India and has provided creation of hawking zones all over the Country by State Governments and Local Authorities. So far no step has been taken to implement the policy-said Mr. Shaktiman Ghosh, General Secretary of National Hawkers Federation which is representing about 4 crore hawkers in the Country. Since it is a centre enabling policy, the Union Government must take needy steps to direct the State Governments to implement the policy-said Mr. Ghosh.

Mr. Mahendra Shah, National Chairman of CAIT urged the Government to enhance the limit of Rs. 1.5 crore to Rs. 5 crore in Excise Act for SMEs whereas Mr. Suresh Bindal, President, Delhi Hindustani Mercantile Association called upon the Government to take cognizance of the issue of Check Bounce where Supreme Court in its recent ruling has said that case against check bounce will be filed at the place of a person who has issued the cheque. The issue needs to be rectified and the Government needs to take initiative.