The Hindu : Trade and business bandh total

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Trade and business bandh total

By Our Special Correspondent

GULBARGA March 31. The trade and business bandh observed in the district on Monday in protest against the introduction of value-added tax (VAT) and the self-assessment scheme (SAS) for property tax, and the move to widen the roads in the city was total.

The bandh was organised by the Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industries and other trade organisations, including the associations of grain merchants, and dal and oil mill owners.

The Nehru Gunj and Supermarket areas, the vegetable market, and the kirana and saraf bazaar localities were deserted as all business establishments, including hotels and restaurants, were closed. However, buses and autorickshaws plied.

Traders and businessmen, led by the President of the chamber, Amarnath Patil, the Honorary Secretary, Umakant Nigudgi, and other office-bearers took out a procession from Nehru Gunj to the Deputy Commissioner's office where a memorandum urging the Government to give up the moves to introduce VAT and the SAS was submitted.

The memorandum said VAT was being introduced in a hurry without taking into confidence traders and businessmen who would be affected by it. The VAT system had several provisions to punish them with imprisonment and fines. This would introduce inspector raj in trade and commerce.

Referring to the SAS, the memorandum said it was unscientific and a burden on property owners. The High Court had given stay against the implementation of SAS on an individual basis to those who had approached it against the scheme. Many more people were likely to take judicial recourse.

The memorandum also demanded withdrawal of the increase in the agriculture produce market cess from one per cent to 1.5 per cent. It also opposed the moves initiated by the district administration to demolish buildings and other structures to widen important roads in the city. There were no records to prove that these buildings, which had been there for the past several decades, were built on encroached land.

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