Ludhiana/Punjab News- Traders observe Black Day at 28 places in state against e-TRIP

Ludhiana, September 10, 2013: Traders under the banner of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) observed "black day" at 28 places across the state by wearing black badges on Tuesday, in protest against the imposition of e-trip system within the city.
The places where protest was staged, included Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Mandi Gobindgarh.
In Ludhiana, the protest was staged at Madhopuri Chowk. Protestors wore black badges. A total 21 traders sat on fast from 11 am to 3 pm. Protestors shouted slogans against the state government.
Congress MLA Surinder Dawar and former Punjab minister and PPBM leader Satpal Gosain also participated in the protest staged here. Protestors were addressed among others by Dawar, Gosaina nd Mandal state general secretaries Sunil Mehra and Mahinder Aggarwal.
Speakers gave a week’s ultimatum to the state government to accede to their demand, otherwise, they would be constrained to call panchayat of the district units of the Mandal and chalk out future strategy to further intensify the agitation.
Interestingly, the political opponents Dawar and Gosain were seen shaking hands on the occasion. Both of them expressed their “unity” for the common cause of traders.
Speakers regretted that the state government had backtracked from its promise of not imposing the e-trip system within the municipal area. They said Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal and chief parliamentary secretary, excise and taxation, Saroop Chand Singla had assured the traders that the e-trip would not be introduced for movement of goods within the city, but the government failed to keep its promise. They added as per the notification issued by the state government speaks of the implementing of e-trip for movement of six goods within the city too. Protest was participated by yarn dealers, hosiery dealers and edible oil dealers in the city.
The PPBM district president Kasturi Lal Mittal and others including the President of Ludhiana Yarn Dealers Association Radhe Shyam Ahuja, Knitwear Club president Darshan Dawar, Charanjit Bhargav, Subhash Mittal, Mukesh Singhania, Arun Gupta, Ashwani Mahajan, Vipan Vinayak, Dinesh Sarpal and Shiv Tandon were present.