Rent control laws must be reformed in timely manner, say traders in Kerala

Rent control laws must be renewed and reformed in a timely manner and laws promulgated to ensure employment protection in the small-scale trading sector, the Kerala Samsthana Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithi has said.

Small-time traders were constantly in fear of eviction and the burden of heavy rental rates, said Samithi president V.K.C. Mammad Koya and secretary E.S. Biju here on Sunday.

The traders demanded that those who were evicted for national highway development be given adequate compensation. The traders were not against development. However, they should be compensated for the losses they suffered, they added.

Those who were evicted for State highways in other States got better compensation than what was received by those evicted for national highways in Kerala, the traders claimed.

They also demanded that the ₹1,600 welfare pension paid to traders from the welfare fund should be re-established. The traders also demanded that the number of officials under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in the State be increased so that checks could be carried out in a timely and efficient manner.