| Kejriwal, Mann meet Punjab’s traders, shopkeepers, assure them they will not have to run from office to office | | |
early times report
PUNJAB, Jan 9: During the maiden meeting of the Punjab State Traders Commission held in SAS Nagar, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann marked the commission as a decisive step to end years of neglect and bureaucratic harassment faced by traders. The AAP Chief said shopkeepers would no longer be forced to run from office to office, as the AAP government has taken governance directly to markets.
Declaring the initiative as the beginning of a new era of business reform in Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal said the commission would simplify the tax system, end an era of tax terrorism, and remove needless procedural hurdles. CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, echoing the sentiment, underlined that shopkeepers were the true patriots who drive the economy and expressed confidence that the commission would decisively safeguard the welfare and dignity of traders across the state.
Addressing the gathering, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal stated, “Today, a new beginning is taking place for small shopkeepers, traders and markets, towards whom no one ever paid attention until now. All those who have been made members of these commissions at different levels and have been given this responsibility, I congratulate all wholeheartedly. Our government has completed four years, and a very beautiful scene caught my attention just now. All of you sitting in this hall are not our party workers. You are independent people. Some of you are presidents of market associations, some represent sector wise trade associations like textiles and tiles, and you come from different backgrounds. You are all independent individuals.”
Reflecting on public sentiment after four years of governance, he continued, “It is often said that after four years, strong anti incumbency sets in and people become angry for one reason or another. Before us, there was the Congress government, and before that, the Shiromani Akali Dal government. After four years, they would face such abuse that I do not think the Congress government would have had the courage to pass around a microphone in a public gathering and say, speak whatever you want. If the microphone had been passed around during the Congress government, they would have been showered with abuses. If it had happened during the Akali Dal government, the microphone would not have returned, so much abuse would have followed. I listened very carefully just now and heard people praising the work, that it has worked well over four years.” |
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