JAMMU: The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) Jammu has appealed the people to avoid online shopping for giving a boost to local business and support traders in the region as business has been affected badly due to Coronavirus as well as law and order related situation in the Union Territory.
The appeal was made by Arun Gupta, President CCI Jammu while addressing an urgent meeting of the Chamber office bearers at Chamber House Jammu. Anil Gupta, Sr Vice President; Rajeev Gupta, Jr Vice President; Gaurav Gupta, Secretary General, Rajesh Gupta, Secretary and Rajesh Gupta, Treasurer were present in the meeting. Arun Gupta said that to save the business in the Jammu region, people should discourage online shopping because this has already dented the interests of shopkeepers. “Especially during the festive season, the online shopping can prove to be deleterious for the traders of the region,” he added.
He further said that saving local traders from devastation is also the responsibility of the people of the region and therefore it is advisable that people should buy goods from local shops. He said that online shopping is not the alternative to local shops and if the trend continues, the days are not far when local shops will disappear leading to inconvenience to the public and livelihood loss to traders. Gupta appealed to the people of Jammu in general not to discourage the local venders as it has been observed many times that products are much cheaper than the online shopping sites. Gupta also took up a significant issue of administration harassing the traders on petty issues during peak festive season.
He said that Government should understand the fact that already businessmen are facing lots of problems due to Coronavirus, etc and harassing them in the name of petty rules like showcasing goods outside shops etc is totally unjustified and therefore Government should take a considerate view by allowing such minor alterations during the peak of business season.
Gupta cautioned that still the threat of Coronavirus was still looming large and therefore it was advisable that people should follow SOPs invariably without any carelessness.
