Cloth merchants oppose GST, go on three-day strike

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 27

Cloth merchants went on a three-day strike against the induction of the Good and Services Tax here today.

On the call by the Federation of Textile Traders of Amritsar (FTTA), all markets in the city today remained closed. Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia, president, FTTA, said the indigenous trade and industry would be severely hit by the GST.

Agitating traders raised slogans against the NDA government. They staged a sit-in at Katra Jai Mal Singh while closing the whole sale and retail markets inside the walled city.

Wholesale cloth markets such as Shastri Market, Cash Dhara Bazaar, Katra Ahluwalia, retail market Katra Jai Mal Singh and adjoining cloth markets were also closed today. Similarly, factories situated in different parts of the city were also locked to protest against the government.

“Once called Manchester of India, the holy city-based textile industry is grappling with problems like cost and quality, competitive market following the global competition, increasing raw material cost, changing dynamics of manufacturing technology and others”, Jatinder Singh added.

Office-bearers of the Shastri Market Cloth dealers, including Jagdish Arora, Deepak Mehra and Ginni Bhatia, said the textile sector was looking at a spate of taxes under the proposed GST.

They said the GST on cotton and natural yarn, which was not covered under the excise tax, would be five per cent and 18 per cent on manmade yarn.

Similarly, the GST on clothes will be five per cent, the office-bearers added.

In addition, the GST on apparel and readymade garments value less than Rs 1,000 would be five percent and over Rs 1,000 value apparel 12 per cent. The work on apparel would attract 18 per cent GST, they added.

Meanwhile, PL Seth, president, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, said, his organisation had extended support to the agitation.

He said they had also extended support to the proposed strike by the Akhil Bhartiya Udhyog and Beopar Mandal on June 30. Traders and industrialists will hold a sit-in outside the Excise and Taxation office.