Local businessmen decide the day of weekly closure, not district administration: DM
The district administration is not imposing the weekly closure in marketplaces due to Covid-19 but ensuring its proper implementation only. This was stated by Dehradun district magistrate Ashish Kumar Srivastava on being asked about the increasing crowd in marketplaces on Saturdays in the Dehradun city due to closure on Sundays. For the last two weeks, the district administration has been more stringent about the weekly closure in which the administration had provided some relaxation during the festive season in early November. While the local businessmen of Dehradun applaud this decision of weekly closure, they assert that since most of the working people get to shop on weekends only, the footfall is increasing more on Saturdays due to the closed Sundays which somewhat diminishes the purpose of weekly closure. “All the shopkeepers really appreciate the idea of weekly closure as the administration sanitises the public places on Sundays due to little presence of people on main roads during that day. However, it would be great if the administration would announce the weekly closure on a working day like Wednesday so that the rush of the closed Sundays would not shift to Saturdays and the sanitisation would also not be hindered. It would be a wiser decision both for customers as well as the shopkeepers,” said the president of Doon Valley Mahanagar Udyog Vyapar Mandal (DVMUVM) Pankaj Mason.
Responding to this, DM Srivastava pointed out that the weekly closure is not something initiated by the administration just to curb Covid-19. He reminded that the day for the weekly closure has always been decided by the businessmen themselves and not by the administration. He said that it has always been the rule of weekly closure of markets in the district and the businessmen of the concerned market areas decide these days. Citing an example, he said markets in Vikasnagar remain closed on Saturdays while it is the same on Thursdays in Rishikesh while Dehradun city observes weekly closure on Sundays. Local shopkeepers here have been neglecting weekly closure for long with some opening their shops but now the administration has become strict and made it clear that weekly closure is compulsory and no further relaxation will be approved to anyone, said Srivastava.
“We do not choose the day for weekly closure of markets, the businessmen do. If they prefer to close their shops on any other day than Sunday for weekly closure, we have no issue with it. It is for them to decide. We are only ensuring the implementation of the weekly closure and not imposing it,” said Srivastava. He added that if the local businessmen want to change the day of the weekly closure, they can come up with a proposal unanimously and present it to the administration. “They can send the proposal and the labour department will make a decision about it,” said Srivastava. Meanwhile, Mason said that more than 90 percent of local businessmen want weekly closure on Wednesday but after getting the feedback of all the businessmen, the association will send a proposal for the same to the DM this week.
Tuesday, 08 December 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
