Give priority to us in govt policies: SMEs to Centre

Small and medium traders appealed to constitute a 'Board of Internal Trade' to look into the issues of the SME sector

Small and medium traders today appealed to the Centre to constitute a 'Board of Internal Trade' to look into the issues of the SME sector even as it alleged that "unethical practices" followed by online retail marketers have created an "uneven playing field" for them.

Representatives of the non-corporate sector from across the country today gathered in a 'rally of small traders' at the Ramlila Maidan in the capital under the banner of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to press for their demands.

CAIT's National General Secretary Praveen Khandelwal said, "Our sector (non-corporate) is contributing more to the GDP, even then we are being neglected by the government in national policy making."

"We contribute about 45% of the GDP and corporate sector only makes about 15%. We make up for about six crore business establishments, we generate 46 crore employment and we have an annual turnover of Rs 30,000 lakh. But, we still suffer," Khandelwal claimed.

Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, who the organisers said was "to attend the rally", however could not make it to the venue.

He said in persuasion of its budget announcement, the Centre has already constituted a committee that will be submitting its report in the near future.

"The core banking sector has failed to address financial assistance to non-corporate sector as so far only 4% of this sector can obtain finances from banks and rest 96% is still dependent upon private money lenders," he said.

The general secretary also accused the online e-commerce retailers of engaging in "unethical business practices" which has created an uneven playing fields for offline traders.

"Because of online business, our sector has suffered a loss of 45% over the last year. We are not against the online commerce but we want to know where is there funding coming from, and whether their practices are tax-compliant or not. This should be probed," Khandelwal said.

Those who participated in the rally included representatives of chambers of commerce from various states, associations of transporters, national federation of hawkers, independent self-employed traders and entrepreneurs.