Textile traders across Prakasam district began a three-day shutdown on Tuesday, in protest against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on clothes, ahead of the GST Council meet on June 30.
In Ongole, traders led by Ongole Cloth Merchants’ Association president R. Venkateswarlu, staged a demonstration in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Bapuji Market Complex. They said the tax would add to the woes of consumers and retailers.
Cloth merchants in the textile town of Chirala and other places, including Kandukur, Markapur, Giddalur, downed their shutters.
“We are not against GST per se . We only want the Centre to spare retail traders and levy GST at the manufacturer’s point itself,” Mr. Venkateswarlu said, adding it would be difficult to maintain 38 different documents. The new tax would only benefit multinational branded garment sellers.
Stir in Venkatagiri
Small-time cloth retailers will go out of business, he said and added they would have no option but to go on an indefinite strike from July 1 if their demand fell on deaf ears.
In Nellore, members of weavers’ cooperative societies and textile shops located in Venkatagiri town took part in the strike in protest against the imposition of GST on handloom products.
The leaders took out a rally and submitted a memorandum to the tahsildar for withdrawal of GST of 5% tax.
Handloom sector should be seen as a heritage which should promoted and the tax would affect the already struggling workers, said Padidam Chenchala Rao, president of the Venkateswara Cooperative Society.
‘Economy will be hit’
Srikakulam Cloth Merchants’ Association deplored the GST burden on small traders too, saying it would ultimately ruin economic activity in towns and semi-urban areas. All the shops remained closed in Srikakulam town and the bandh would continue on Wednesday and Thursday.
The association, which held an emergency meeting, asked the Union government to exempt small traders from the tax net. Its State vice-president Patnala Srinivasa Rao said many traders were unable to handle computers and it was not possible for them to submit returns every month. He said the agitation would continue till June 30 if the government failed to understand their grievances.
