Demanding immediate withdrawal of the toll tax, the traders’ associations of the old city under the banner of the Chamber of Traders’ Federation (CTF) held a massive protest demonstration at the Purani Mandi Chowk here today.
Speaking during the protest demonstration, Neeraj Anand, CTF president, threatened to launch an agitation, if the government fails to remove the toll tax by September 20 this year.
Raising slogans against the state government, the traders alleged that the continuation of the toll tax in our state, subsumed elsewhere in the rest of India, was neither going to benefit the traders nor the consumers. This shall only serve the hidden agenda of some politicians, industrialists and officials, they added.
It has also come to the notice of the CTF that due to the continuation of the toll tax, unscrupulous traders in the neighbouring states are still engaged in pushing their material into the state at lower prices in connivance with the officials at the border. The local dealers shall suffer due to the large disparity of rates and this also defeats the theory of “One Nation One Tax” and people of J&K will be deprived of the benefits of reduced prices as is being witnessed across the country, the traders said.
Abolish toll tax by Sept 20 or face strike, warn traders
