Shops and trading establishments in the state remained closed on Wednesday as part of a state-wide stir organised by the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi.
There were no major untoward incidents related to the stir, though tension was reported in Kozhikode over resistance from a section of traders to cooperate with strikers.
Medical shops also remained closed till 1 pm as part of the stir, while hotels also took part in the stir. Usually, medical shops were exempted from traders’ stir. The token closure was to register the protest of traders against allowing FDI in retail trade in the country and also to resist alleged moves of the Food Safety Commissionerate to choke the food processing-hotel sector through the provisions in the Food Safety Act,2006.
Though the State Government has maintained that FDI would not be allowed in the state, the traders are wary of the promise as they fear that FDI could make its entry into the state in the long run. Bakery owners in the state, associated with Bakers Association Kerala (Bake), turned the closure of shops on Wednesday into an opportunity to launch a cleanliness drive, as part of an in-house initiative under FIT (Friendly Inspection Team). Activists of KVVES took out marches to select Central Government offices, as part of the stir.
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