Uttarakhand Vyapar Mandal State president Anil Goel warned the State Government against going to far in the anti-encroachment drives while addressing a gathering of the traders based in Pauri on Monday. “Encroachment is bad. The Government is bound to evict the encroachers. But demolishing a whole market in the name of encroachment demolition drive is bad. They should not ignore the fact that the traders are doing business from the markets for generations. They must follow the procedures and take the traders and the body that represents them into confidence before embarking on such drives ,” he said, adding that the State Government and the civic bodies must be wary of harassing the traders.
Goel administered oaths to the newly elected Pauri Vyapar Sabha president Devendra Rawat, general secretary Anoop Devrani, treasurer Kuldeep Singh Gusain and nominated members.
Assuring the traders, he said the body would not hesitate to cross swords with the State Government in case the latter decides to trample upon their rights.
He asked the businessmen to avail of the schemes launched by the State and the Union Government. The small scale businessman can take loan of Rs50,000 to Rs10 lakh under Mudra Kosh Scheme for which every bank has been given a target of 25, he said.
The State trader body’s acting president Umesh Agrawal said that the sacrifice of the traders during the Statehood movement of Uttarakhand should not be lost sight of. “We are being ignored since the State came up,” he lamented.