Business rules: Vendors protest against rate card fee

Agri-Marketing Dept had announced free cards, but govt imposed Rs5,000 fee.

GUJRAT:

Vegetable and fruit vendors on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration against the government for charging Rs5,000 for purchasing rate cards.

Shouting slogans against the district government officials, the protesters demanded that the decision be immediately withdrawn.

The said only a week ago, the Agri-Marketing Department had announced that the cards would be free, but the district government had now fixed a fee.

They said the government had imposed a fee of Rs5 per commodity and made the purchase of price cards compulsory. They said the vendors had also been told to set up separate stalls in vegetable and fruit markets.

The protesting vendors said they had refused to buy the rate-cards.

They said buying a rate card at Rs5 per commodity every day meant they would have to pay at least Rs160 every day. They said they could not afford this.

Raja Talat Mehmood, the Central Vegetable Association president; Haji Nazir Ahmad, the Railway Road Vegetable Association president; Muhammad Amjad, the Sargodha Road Vegetable Association president; and Yousaf Wali, the Vegetable Association president; also condemned the government’s decision in a joint statement issued on Thursday.

They said the government was causing trouble for the poor vendors.

They appealed to the chief minister, Gujranwala divisional commissioner and the Market Committee secretary to act on the vendors’ demand and cancel the notification.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2013.