On assurance of Mayor to look into their demands, shopkeepers protesting under banner of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal open their shops

Ludhiana, December 12, 2022: As a mark of the protest against apathetic attitude of the ruling state government against their demands, members of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) shut down their shops on the Mata Rani Road here this morning and staged a protest infront of office of Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana (Zone-A).

The protest was held under the leadership of the mandal’s state general secretary Sunil Mehra and district general secretary Ayush Aggarwal. They said despite their repeated requests the state government has failed to take any concrete action with regard to different parking rates being charged in different locations of mega city of Ludhiana.

Adding, they said the matter has already been brought to the notice of Punjab Chief Minister and Principal Secretary of Department of Local Government Punjab, but the things remained unchanged. As a result, there prevailed a strong resentment among the traders. They warned that they would not open their shops till their demand is accepted. 

They said that how is it possible that all the parking spots in the city were given to only one contractor rather than multiple contractors after comparing the contract prices. In Municipal Corporation, Zone A, the main office, all the vehicles which are parked on the streets with in the parking line, are also forced to give the parking fees to the contractor. This shows that the contractor is taking undue advantage of their political links and are harassing the general public and traders in large.

Adding, they said that every parking spot in the city has dire condition which lacks proper roads, lighting in the facility, lack of lifts and proper washroom facility especially in Municipal corporation Zone-A which adds as a fuel in the parking scam. 

Meanwhile, Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu on getting an information about the ongoing protest arrived there and heard grievances of the protesting traders. The mandal leaders presented him a memorandum following which Mayor assured to look into the matter and do the needful done. 

Replying to the protestors’ allegation, Mayor said the parking sites were auctioned through e-auction therefore he did not have all details of the same. He assured that if there was a single contractor for all the parking sites then he would cancel the contract. He also assured that no one will be allowed to take any undue advantage of the citizens.

On assurance given by Mayor, the protesting traders decided to open their shops. “However, we have warned to close down shops across the city if their demands are not met within next one week”, said Mehra and Aggarwal.

Electronic Association, Mata Rani Road, Ludhiana president Davinder Singh Jolly, chairman Ravinder Singh, vice chairman Vijay Kumar Chopra, Pawan Malhotra, Jagdish Chander Sadana, Vicky, Surinder Singla, Ram Kumar Rama,  Surinder Bharti and all association members were present there. 

The routine working was affected for about one hour in the market due to the today’s protest.