Chandigarh (The Hawk): Addressing the ‘Vyapari Sammelan’ organized at Kaithal through video conferencing here on Tuesday, the Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar said that the traders are the backbone of the economy. He added that under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the Central Government has launched various schemes for the welfare of traders. “The present state government is also committed to the welfare of the traders. To resolve their grievances, the state government has also constituted the Traders Welfare Board. In addition, insurance cover is provided to traders under the Mukhya Mantri Vyapari Samuhik Niji Durghatna Bima Yojana,” he said.
CM Khattar told that under the 'Laghu Vyapari Mandhan Yojana' launched by the Central Government, an annual assistance of Rs 6,000 is provided to small traders. Not only this, under the PM-SVANidhi scheme, loans ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh are given to street vendors, he added. Mr. Khattar said that during the tenure of the previous government, traders used to face a lot of trouble. “But our government did the work of ending the Inspector Raj. The state government has formulated several policies to create a business environment in the state,” he said.
He said that when GST was implemented in the country, there were many doubts in the minds of traders. “The state government, after talking to the traders, understood their problems and simplified the GST process. Today traders are very happy with this system,” he said, adding that the present government is duty-bound for the welfare of farmers, traders, laborers and all other sections.
The Chief Minister announced that a new policy will be formulated for construction and repair of boundary walls, sheds, gates and cleaning arrangements, etc, in vegetable markets across the state. Under this, a committee will be formed with arhtiyas as part of it. Some amount will be made available to the committee from the market fees, so that the committee can get the works of the market done at its own level.
CM Khattar said that the market fee and HRDF rate to be charged in vegetable markets across the state will now be fixed outright. The bill to amend the rules related to this has been passed by the Vidhan Sabha. At present, the rate of two percent market fee and two percent HRDF is applicable. Considering the demand of the arhtiyas, the government has decided to do it outright, he added.
He said that shops in Kaithal’s Transport Nagar were sold to traders as per the policy by the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran; however today traders are not able to sell their shops further due to some terms and conditions in the policy. “Realizing the difficulty of the traders, the government has decided that a new policy will be formulated for such traders and they will be given relaxation in the rules, so that they will be able to sell their shops,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that a policy is also being formulated to shift government warehouses built in cities across the state, outside the city. He also announced the extension of the ‘Vivadon ka Samadhan’ Yojana for a period of one year to settle the ongoing disputes related to shops in mandis.
He said that the state government has already announced to give 1.25 percent handling charges to the arhtiyas on the purchase of crops done by NAFED. “If still there is any difficulty, this decision will be implemented after taking up the matter with NAFED. The handling charges will definitely be given to the arhtiyas,” he added. –Jag Mohan Thaken.
