Traders oppose FDI in retail

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangankalin Peravai has asked the Centre to decide against allowing 51 percent FDI in the retail sector. The Peravai has also announced that it would take up an awareness drive among traders and the people about the ramifications of FDI in retail, to drum up support against it.“Allowing FDI in retail will only leave us with a WalMart-like situation that is currently posing a problem in the US and elsewhere. I cannot imagine how that would be desirable,” said AM Vikramaraja, the state president of the Peravai.“It has been proven many times over that the introduction of a retail chain serves to kill off small businesses apart from reducing the number of buyers as well as options for cunsumers. This could work out to be a death blow to the producers of goods,” noted Vikramaraja. His comments came after a state-level meeting of the Peravai. He also said traders in TN were yet to rise up in protest against the big retail chains as there is little awareness of how they would impact local businesses. “Low awareness is the reason we are taking up this drive. Once the traders understand the ramifications, there is no question how they would react,” said Vikramaraja.Representatives of the Peravai would meet Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and request her to pass a resolution in the Assembly against FDI in the retail sector, he said. He also made an appeal to the Centre to stop online trading in food items.Vikramaraja also appealed to Jayalalithaa to take steps to solve the problems of traders, like she had promised in her poll manifesto. He said that representatives would continue to push the Centre till they found a favourable resolution to their reservations.