MARGAO
Members of the New Market Traders Association have threatened to bring a massive morcha on the Margao Municipal Council if the civic body fails to address their long pending grievances, including the failure to crack a whip against vendors doing illegal business outside the mega market complex.
A delegation of the Association led by President Vinod Shirodkar conveyed the warning to Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Lyndon Pereira on Tuesday, pointing out that the traders will shut down the market and come in a morcha to the Municipal building to get their issues resolved.
The delegation opposed the decision of the Council to increase the transfer fees with retrospective effect from 2004, saying the fees have come as an additional burden on the traders in times of Covid-19 pandemic. “We are ready to pay the transfer fees not from the year 2004 when the government had notified the transfer fees, but from the day the transfer application is made,” Vinod told the Municipal chairperson.
The delegation also took objection to the restriction in the timings of the shops and establishments in the Municipal market up to 7 pm, saying while they are being forced to pull down shutters by 7 pm, all the business establishments, including bars and restaurants remain open till 11 pm. “We have told the MMC chairperson to grant us an additional one hour, promising we will shut the shops at 8 pm in view of the ensuing festive season,” he said.
Saying that the MMC has utterly failed in cracking a whip against illegal traders and vending outside the New Market area, the delegation has suspected the hand of councillors for extending patronage to the illegal vendors. “We have evidence to prove that a councillor had recently forced a market inspector to return back the goods seized from an illegal vendor. Such things should stop immediately. We fail to understand why the market inspectors and the civic officials bow down to pressure from Ministers and others,” he said, warning that the New Market traders will not be silent spectators to those who extend patronage to illegal activities.
