4 Cr Small Shop Owners To PM Modi: Please Allow Us To Open Our Shops In Lockdown, Supermarkets Are Also Opened

The deadly coronavirus pandemic has led to a nation-wide lockdown of 21 days, starting from March 24^th.

It should’ve lasted until April 14, however due to a maddening surge in the numbers of newly diagnosed cases each day across the country, the governments of many states have extended this lockdown period upto April 30.

Not to add that this lockdown has not just shown its devastating blow to the technological, or just a handful of sectors but the entire economy of the country has fallen. In fact, not just the country, the world economy is crumbling severely.

This has created a direct impact on the pockets of the residents. Speaking of pockets, the worst of all is being beared by the daily wage earner, today.

FRAI Head Requests PM to Allow Small Retailers to Operate

The President of the Federation of Retailer Association of India (FRAI), a representative body of about 4 crore micro, small and medium retailers selling soft drinks, mineral water, biscuits, cigarette and paan, bidi from across India, has requested and appealed to the Prime Minister to allow their members to open their shops.

Ram Asre Mishra, President, FRAI has requested the PM (for its people) to kindly empathise with the hardships being faced by our poor and helpless individual members and allow them to open their shops immediately.

He adds that while big grocery shops continue selling essential commodities and are operating at their fullest pace, small shopkeeper brothers who also sell similar goods of daily public needs shouldn’t be deprived of the sources of earning their livelihoods.

He also said that all the capital of such poor retailers is tied up in the stocks of essential products which are remaining unsold in their shops because of the lockdown.

 Consequently, they are dipping into small savings to survive in order to purchase food to support their family members. Most of them have now depleted their entire savings and are on the verge of starvation.

Mishra Appeals for Financial Relief from the Govt to these Poor Families

Along with appealing about letting the small and medium shop vendors to open their shops to earn their livelihoods amidst the envelope of the deadly pandemic, FRAI’s President has also appealed to the PM to provide financial relief to these members of the body.

He has appealed to the Prime Minister to immediately announce an economic package to compensate the losses of the petty retailers in their daily income under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana announced by the Government.

FRAI members sustain their livelihood by selling goods of daily needs like biscuits, soft drinks, mineral water, cigarettes, bidi and paan in the neighbourhood.

The profit of these micro retailers in selling these products is about ?15,000 per month.

“The closure of such shops during the current lockdown on account of Coronavirus has completely stopped the daily inflow of the petty retailers’ income,” FRAI said.