The CAIT (Confederation of All India Traders) has sent a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and Chief Minister, urging to have a meeting with the trade organisation regarding the rise in Covid cases and implementation of any lockdown or curfew.
The CAIT reacted to the Delhi government’s decision to impose a night curfew in Delhi from today onwards, saying that there is no doubt that it is very important to curb the growing Covid-19 cases, but the imposition of night curfew will probably be of no use in the prevention of Covid-19. However, the Delhi government should arrange meetings with Delhi’s trade and resident organizations to formulate a plan that does not have any impact on Delhi’s business activities, but, at the same time, helps check the fast-growing Covid cases. The CAIT has also raised the issue of how severely economic activities in Maharashtra have been affected after the government implemented the lockdown there till 30 April.
CAIT sent a letter today to Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the steps taken by the Maharashtra and Delhi governments and has urged that each state should take independent steps regarding the Covid outbreak, instead of following in the footsteps of the Central government to implement a lockdown like last year. A centralized plan should be made only after consultation with all the state governments so that uniformity is maintained throughout the country. CAIT has asked Home Minister Shah for time for a meeting.
On the issue of Delhi, CAIT sent a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, requesting that before any decision is taken, a meeting with the traders be convened to consider the strategy to curb Covid cases. The traders of Delhi are with the government and they are ready for every possible help of the government in this war against Covid-19. Not considering the curfew as the only option, CAIT also raised the question of how it is possible to curb the outbreak by imposing night curfew in Delhi.
CAIT national president B.C. Bhartia and national secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said that the night curfew will directly affect restaurants, hotels, banquets, and farmhouse businesses operating in Delhi, which are already fighting for their survival due to the previous lockdown. In the last one year, all these sectors had to suffer a huge loss of business and now when they were slowly recovering from their previous loses, the night curfew is being forced on them which will ruin them further. They also added that there are large-scale wedding and other ceremonies to be held in April and May, for which people have already spent a lot of money. It should be kept in mind that due to the decision of night curfew, it is no longer possible to perform such ceremonies.
Bhartia and Khandelwal said that April is full of festivals like Ramnoumi, Baisakhi, Gudi Padwa, and Hanuman Jayanti which are not only special for the people, but are also important for the financial revival of recession-hit traders. Apart from this, most officer timings in Delhi end late in the evening and the markets of Delhi are also active in the evening, so there will be a double hit on business in local shops and markets.