CITU Wants Centre To Regulate Retail
By Mrs Gupta, Section News
Posted on Mon May 28, 2007 at 04:43:53 AM EST
Labour union CITU, which considers the entry of Reliance into the state's retail market a fait accompli, now wants the Centre to devise regulatory measures to control its operations.
State CITU president Shyamal Chakraborty made it clear that the CPI(M)'s trade wing is still opposed to foreign investment and entry of firms like Reliance into the retail sector.
"We cannot prevent their entry by lawful means. So we want the Centre to at least issue regulatory guidelines," said Chakrabarty, on the sidelines of an all-India meet of CITU representatives today. Earlier, former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu had also admitted that the entry of Reliance could not be stopped legally.
The entry of big business companies in retail will form part of the CITU's agenda at the all-India meet that will end on May 30.
In fact, the organisation will also send a detailed report to the Centre on this. According to CITU, the entry of such firms into retail will push the small traders out of business. "At least four crore families are dependent on this sector for their livelihood," claimed Chakraborty.
The CITU also wants the Centre to initiate a round of discussions with the different trade unions on this issue before any decisions are made on foreign investment.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been batting for the big businesses' entry into the retail sector. Last month, he said everybody should welcome this as large quantities of fruits and vegetables perish every year because of lack of storage facilities. The entry of big business houses will stem the rot.
The issue got a fresh life last month, when Reliance won the bid to revamp the Park Circus Market. The Front partners, particularly Forward Bloc, resisted it vehemently. In fact, because of this opposition, the KMC did not take any decision and the issue has been referred to the Left Front.
(Source - Indian Express, 28/05/07)
