Traders resent BIS raids on toy dealers

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, January 20

The HP Veopar Mandal has expressed resentment against recent raids conducted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Parwanoo, on the establishments of toys dealers in Solan and Shimla cities.

Sumesh Sharma, mandal president, in a statement issued here today, said these surprise raids conducted by the BIS along with police force to check the sale of non-ISI-marked toys had created panic among traders, who were not aware of the restrictions notified two years ago by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

He said most of the traders in the state had no knowledge of the restrictions and the BIS instead of sensitising them, raided their premises and imposed penalties on them. He added that as per the BIS, a trader, who violates rules, could be awarded two-year jail and imposed a fine up to Rs 5 lakh. “It is ironic that the BIS rules are harsh and a majority of traders selling toys are unaware of these. Neither the BIS nor any government agency has ever launched a drive to educate the sellers and users of toys,” he said.

Sharma urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to intervene to save toy traders from harassment and give them a reasonable period to exhaust their old stocks of non-ISI marked. He said the traders were under financial distress due to the pandemic and if raids continued, they would be ruined.

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