Saturday, 01 January 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
Local chemist shop owners and traders staged a protest in Dehradun against online businesses and stores that give heavy discounts on medicines allegedly causing loss to them. All chemist shops in the city remained closed on Friday due to the protest. The members of the Wholesale Chemist Association (WCA), Retail Chemist Association (RCA) and Doon Udyog Vyapar Mandal (DUVM) along with others took out a rally from Kanwali Road to GMS Road where all protested outside one of the Reliance’s stores which are allegedly selling medicines for considerable discounts as per the protestors. The general secretary of RCA, Pankaj Mittal said that big stores and multinational companies are luring the customers by offering unethical heavy discounts which have jeopardised the livelihood of local chemists. “If the government does not restrict the trade through such stores soon, all chemists will start an indefinite protest against them,” said Mittal.
The state general secretary of Uttaranchal Drug Dealers Federation (UDDF) Amit Garg also said that the association will commence a state-wide protest if the government fails to take cognisance of this matter. The members also informed that they have sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the district magistrate R Rajesh Kumar and demanded immediate restriction on such stores.
