The trade body warns that any lockdown will jolt trade
CAIT also states it is better to stop all political rallies for the time being
New Delhi, NFAPost: In the wake of slowly increasing numbers of Covid cases in different nations and in India, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in an advisory issued to more than 40 thousands trade associations all over the Country stressed the need for the business community to take immediate cognisance of the rising cases of the Covid-19 variant Omicron, which is a big potential threat to the citizens of India.
Expressing grace concerns CAIT National President Shri B C Bhartia and Secretary General Shri Praveen Khandelwal strongly said imposing any lockdown will have significant adverse impact on trade and economy of the Country.
“Therefore, in place of any such possibility of lockdown, the political parties should not hold any political rally, in difference to the suggestion of Allahabad High Court made yesterday,” said CAIT National President Shri B C Bhartia and Secretary General Shri Praveen Khandelwal.
The trade body office bearers also reminded that it is not only the responsibility of the ruling party but entire political spectrum should rise to the occasion and desist from holding political rallies any further.
“Elections will come and go but the situation demands responsible behaviour from all political parties at this initial juncture of increase in covid cases to prevent any possible disaster,” said CAIT National President Shri B C Bhartia and Secretary General Shri Praveen Khandelwal.
As per data received from all over the world, Omicron is causing havoc everywhere and the rising number of cases and deaths is a clear indication of things to come for India.
The USA reported approximately 2.5 lakh cases, 1. 2 lakh in UK and 90 thousand cases in France. The various States of the country have also registered a sudden hike in covid cases. These figures are extremely worrying and disturbing for a common man.
“In view of the above, it is extremely important that all our markets start taking urgent preventive steps to control the spread of the virus in our respective markets. The Union Health Ministry and the State Governments or State Disaster Management Authority have also issued guidelines for State governments and market associations respectively to control the spread and the business community can play a vital role in percolating appropriate covid behaviour across the country,” said CAIT National President Shri B C Bhartia and Secretary General Shri Praveen Khandelwal.
The trade bode leaders also informed that CAIT has listed some important guidelines for implementation by the traders which includes that all shops in the market must clearly display a signboard saying “ No Mask No Sale”.
“Sanitisers must be placed in all shops and customers and employees must sanitize their hands regularly. All employees must be wearing masks at all times. Digital payment should be promoted and usage of cash must be restricted as the virus also spreads through currency notes,” said CAIT National President Shri B C Bhartia and Secretary General Shri Praveen Khandelwal.
The trade leaders further informed that CAIT advisory also underlined that thermal screening of all customers and employees must be done on a regular basis.
Appropriate social distancing must be encouraged and the crowd must be avoided at shops. Proper queues must be maintained at all times. The number of customers in the shop at one point of time should be capped as per the size of the shop. Any customer with symptoms of cough cold or fever must be returned immediately.
CAIT National President Shri B C Bhartia and Secretary General Shri Praveen Khandelwal said saif timings of the shop must be altered so as to accommodate customers in suitable time gaps.
Vaccination is the key to controlling the impact of the virus, it should be made mandatory for all employees and also should be promoted to all customers, they added.
“We are hoping that together we will all comply with the above-mentioned points which have been compiled after a detailed study and understanding of the pandemic emerged over the last two years. It is our responsibility to protect traders Traders, their smokers and their customers, our employees and from the deadly virus,” said CAIT National President Shri B C Bhartia and Secretary General Shri Praveen Khandelwal.
