Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) national general secretary and MP Praveen Khandelwal said on Sunday that due to the protests in the country’s capital, traders have suffered a loss of Rs 4 thousand crore in the last ten days.
Expressing deep concern over the adverse impact on business activities due to the ongoing protests in the national capital New Delhi for the past few days, Khandelwal said that if this disruption in the markets continues for a long time, then trade worth more than Rs 400 crore in Delhi may be affected daily.
Khandelwal said that on an average daily business turnover in New Delhi is about Rs 2,200 crore. In such a situation, the extensive business structure of the capital Delhi collapses due to any kind of disruption.
Giving an estimate, he said that within 10 days this figure is expected to reach a huge level of Rs 4,000 crore.
Citing constitutional limits, Khandelwal said that citizens have the fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(A) of the Constitution and the fundamental right to peaceful assembly under Article 19(1)(B).
But, Article 19(1)(g) of the same Constitution also gives equal right to every citizen to run trade, business and livelihood of his choice.
He said that while exercising democratic rights, the legitimate rights of other citizens and businessmen should not be violated.
The celebration of one fundamental right cannot be ruined by threatening the livelihood of others. The right to peaceful protest should be protected but there should not be unnecessary economic burden on the general public, businessmen and workers.
According to Khandelwal, the impact of movements is not limited to just the places of protest. The entire supply chain is affected due to long traffic jams on roads, reduced customer movement, disruption in movement of goods and reduced business hours.
He said that the worst hit are small shopkeepers and street vendors, who have to pay shop rent, employees’ salaries, electricity bills and bank installments despite sales stopping.
People do shopping all over the country from October to January. Delhi is the largest wholesale and distribution center in North India.
Khandelwal has appealed that all parties should adopt a balanced approach so that democratic expression can be maintained and the business of Delhi and the livelihood of the common people are also protected during the festive and wedding season.