Hardik Tokas
On Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the process of easing the lockdown in the city will begin on Monday, beginning with the restart of construction activity and the reopening of factories for a week.
On a day when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal promised to unlock additional operations in the coming days, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) urged the reopening of stores and marketplaces using the same criteria used for the resuming of construction operations and industries. The traders’ association said it will seek a review of the order from Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the chief minister.
Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general CAIT, said in a statement, “The yardstick applied for the opening of construction activities and factories could be applied more judiciously for opening the markets and particularly when the trade associations all over Delhi are more inclined to extend full support of the government”.
On Saturday, the chief minister stated that the national capital had around 900 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours and that if new infections continue to fall, more activities will be permitted in the city. In response to the traders’ worries on Saturday, the chief minister stated that if the situation improves, everything would be opened up.
The group of traders held a virtual meeting where they suggested reopening of shops and markets, “in a phased manner while segregating the working time for different verticals of Delhi trade. The business of Delhi has been completely derailed, how will that business be restored when there is acute financial crunch”.
He suggested that business activities can be restored in a manner which “may certainly curb any more spreading of coronavirus”. “Working hours can be reduced, Delhi can be divided into different zones, night curfew can be imposed, weekend lockdowns and several other options can be considered but the fundamental is to have a will to open the shops and markets”.
