Traders ignore FJCCI appeal for ‘Janta Lockdown’, open shops

Ranchi:

Traders

and businessmen in Ranchi and across the state on Friday ignored the ‘Janta

Lockdown

’ appeal of the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) and kept their respective establishments open for business.

Like Ranchi, shops in Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Deoghar and Dumka remained open. However, the appeal had some effect in Lohardaga and Gumla where traders kept their establishments closed.

Earlier this week, the FJCCI had appealed to the state’s traders to keep their establishments closed voluntarily from Friday to Sunday to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The appeal was made after the huge surge in cases in the state and several businessmen in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and other cities contracted the deadly viral infection.

While whole sellers in Pandra Agriculture Produce Market Yard kept their shutters down, shopkeepers in Main Road, Daily Market, Hinoo, Birsa Chowk, Doranda, Lalpur, Kokar, Shastri Market and other shopping hotspots of the city kept their establishments open. Ranchi’s Upper Bazar, which remained closed in the morning, opened from afternoon onwards. There are a little over 20,000 traders in Ranchi, the FJCCI said.

Talking to TOI, Paramjeet Singh, owner of an apparel store in Shastri Market, said, “The lockdown has already cost us dearly. I cannot afford to keep my shop closed as I have seven employees whom I need to pay at the end of every month.”

Nadeem Khan, a dry fruit seller at the Daily Market, also echoed the same sentiments. “I have opened my shop in anticipation of customers ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha or Bakri Eid. Unlike big showrooms and stores, I do not have the capital and need to earn daily to feed my family,” Khan said.

Pawan Agarwal, a stationery shop owner in Shraddhanand Road, said, “The FJCCI’s appeal was outlandish. On one hand, the business has reduced to a trickle as customers are avoiding venturing outdoors with the rising cases. On the other, the small business shopkeepers are managing is during the weekends.”

FJCCI president Kunal Ajmani said: “The appeal was made in the interest of the traders. But many chose money over their health. It is up to their conscience now.” Ajmani also said the FJCCI on Friday wrote to the state government urging it to take tougher calls to curb the rising cases and break the chain of transmission.