Traders' body warn of protest against weekend lockdown

On August 20, the state government had announced to extend the weekend lockdown and night curfew by two hours from 7 pm till 5 am in all the cities and towns in the wake of rising coronavirus cases.

A traders' body on Saturday warned of launching a state-wide protest if the Punjab government failed to rollback weekend lockdown in all cities. The representatives of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) threatened to launch protests from September 1.

In a joint statement issued here, PPBM state general secretary Sunil Mehra, state secretary Mohinder Aggarwal, said that the proposed agitation would include the holding of 'dharnas' and protests. They categorically stated that the state government itself would be responsible for the outcome of these protests. They regretted that the state's bureaucracy on the directions of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has been issuing new orders on a daily basis which is putting an adverse effect on businesses. They said the state government instead of ensuring medical facilities to people has introduced odd-even formula for shopkeepers, which is hitting their businesses. They reiterated that if liquor vends, restaurants and hotels could open on all days then why not shops dealing in non-essential goods. It indicates that the government has opened its sources of revenue but the traders' interest is being ignored whereas the fact is that traders pay the maximum tax, they said. On August 20, the state government had announced to extend the weekend lockdown and night curfew by two hours from 7 pm till 5 am in all the cities and towns in the wake of rising coronavirus cases.

Besides, the district authorities of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and Mohali have allowed only 50 per cent of the non-essential shops to open on a daily basis to check to the crowd.