Pune traders protest against COVID-19 curbs, say will violate rules
What's the story
Hundreds of traders in Pune today held a protest against the curbs imposed by the state government over COVID-19.
They demanded an extension in current operational hours for shops in the city.
The shopkeepers alleged bias on part of the government as relaxations were recently given to many districts, but not Pune and some other areas.
Here are more details on this.
Details
Protest led by Federation of Trade Association, Pune
The protesting traders gathered at Sonya Maruti Chowk on Laxmi Road in Pune around 11:45 am today before heading toward Alka Talkies Chowk.
They also banged kitchen utensils and rang bells as they marched.
Some other shop owners and traders protested outside their shops.
The protest was led by the Federation of Trade Association of Pune (FTAP).
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Traders said they will violate the curfew timing
"COVID-19 cases have gone down in Pune city and yet shop timings continue to be up to 4 pm. To oppose this biased decision by the state government, all our association members and traders across the city protested today," said Fatechand Ranka, president of the traders' association.
Ranka said they plan to violate the deadline by opening the shops until 7 pm from tomorrow.
Context
Government announced relaxations; Pune, other districts left out
The Maharashtra government on Monday announced easing of restrictions for over 20 districts where the COVID-19 situation is under control.
However, several districts were left out of the ambit of relaxations, including Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Ahmednagar, Beed, Raigad, and Palghar.
The government said these areas continue to report a high coronavirus caseload.
Demands
What are the demands of the traders?
The protesting traders said that Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad municipal limits, and the rural parts of the districts should be considered separate administrative units to assess the COVID-19 situation and the relaxations in curbs.
They also accused Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led state government of "favoring" state capital Mumbai as the ruling Shiv Sena is in power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
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'Sena rules BMC, hence favored Mumbai'
"Shiv Sena government has given relaxations to Mumbai just because it is in power in the BMC. But in Pune, another political party (the Bharatiya Janata Party) is in power so they are not giving any relaxations to Pune," said Ranka, according to Hindustan Times.
Reactions
Pune Mayor, BJP leaders slam the government
Meanwhile, Pune MLA Siddharth Shirole and the city's Mayor Murlidhar Mohol have backed the traders' demands.
Shirole even called the matter a "sinister political vendetta."
However, Nawab Malik, Maharashtra's Minority Affairs Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, rejected that allegation. "Tomorrow, if Pune's cases come down, the government will immediately ease restrictions," he reportedly said.