The amalgam of different trade bodies, Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) Friday appealed to the government to take stakeholders into confidence before resorting to ‘demolition or sealing’ any shop.
Chairman KTMF, Muhammad Yaseen Khan addressed a press conference a day after unsealing of 25 shops at Aftab Market Srinagar.
Khan said that the land on which the shops are situated belongs to Srinagar Municipal Corporation and since 1972, these shopkeepers are paying rent to the concerned Corporation.
“Some miscreants misled the Srinagar administration about the land at Aftab Market and when we came up with proof and displayed the documents, the administration decided to unseal the sealed shops,” Khan as per the news agency Kashmir News Trust said.
He said traders are taxpayers and generate employment. “Our amalgam acts as a bridge between the government and the traders and that is why we request the administration to take us on board before going for sealing or demolition drive,” he said. [KNT