Patna: Retail traders are being “ruined” by the rapid growth of online business and need urgent protection through government regulation, speakers at a state-level conference of foodgrain traders in Patna said on Sunday.
Delegates at the meeting, organised by the Bihar State Foodgrain Businessmen Association at the Bihar Chamber of Commerce, called on the central government to introduce a regulatory act to safeguard small traders. They also demanded improvements in policing to tackle crime against business owners and reforms in the state’s weights and measures department.
Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, who also holds the finance and commercial tax portfolio, assured participants that the state government was committed to protecting the interests of foodgrain traders. He highlighted a social security provision that grants Rs 5 lakh in compensation to families of traders who die in accidents under the Bihar Businessman Death and Accident Grant Scheme.
Former governor Ganga Prasad suggested that the Foodgrain Association should be given representation in the newly formed Business Entrepreneur Commission and urged greater support for industries based on agricultural products.
In his presidential address, Dr Sanjeev Chaurasia, an MLA, pressed the central government to exempt all food items – including edible oils and pre-packaged products – from GST. He also called for amendments to what he described as impractical provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act.
The event was attended by senior trade leaders including Babulal Gupta, president of the Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal, and its senior general secretary Mukund Mishra. Association general secretary Naveen Kumar presented the annual report and welcomed dignitaries, who were honoured with bouquets, shawls and mementoes.
