Jamshedpur traders stage peaceful protest against agricultural market tax

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, April 27: Hundreds of traders of Jamshedpur staged peaceful demonstration before the Jamshedpur Collectorate to protest against the agricultural market tax on Wednesday. They gathered here on the call of Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Leading the agitators, SCCI president Vijay Anand Moonka handed a memorandum addressed to Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais and Chief Minister Hemant Soren to the Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) Pradip Kumar.

Addressing the protestors, Moonka said, “Jharkhand government should withdraw agricultural market tax in the larger interest of the local traders. There is no such tax in Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and other states. By levying this tax, the government will have to suffer huge losses in GST which may be even ten times the total revenue it expects to collect as agricultural market tax.”

The traders of Chandil, Chakulia, Ghatsila, Mosabani and other fringe areas of the city gathered near the Collectorate around 3 pm. The agitation was scheduled to take place from 3.45 pm to 5 pm.

The SCCI members said the agitation would not stop here, but would continue in the days to come. “We will not sit quietly as the Bill passed by the state government to levy agricultural market tax would give rise to corruption, Inspector Raj and inflation in the state. The agitation would continue in a phased manner till the government withdraws the tax,” said former SCCI president Suresh Sonthalia.