Delhi traders'' action against Reliance Fresh fizzles out

Efforts by a traders'' group to force corporate-run food retail stores in the national capital to shut shop, like they did in Lucknow earlier, fizzled out on Thursday 20 September. Reliance Fresh, the main target of the All India Byapar Mandal, did business as usual.

Some other stores, however, remained closed for the day apprehending trouble. Samajwadi Party MP Banwari Lal Kanchal had yesterday threatened that the traders'' body would forcibly shut down corporate-run retail food stores.

The activists tried to do a repeat of what they did in Lucknow and Varanasi last month - ransack the shops. Following the incident, the Uttar Pradesh government had ordered closure of such western-style food retail outlets, pending the report of an official committee.

All India Byapar Mandal activists staged a demonstration in front of the Reliance Fresh and Subhiksha stores in Shakarpur, during which time the Reliance outlet closed briefly. It reopened at 1200 hrs and was open for business the rest of the day, a Reliance Fresh representative said.

Small traders over several parts of the country have been protesting the entry of large corporate entities into retail businesses, saying the big retailers were taking away their livelihoods. The government has not allowed foreign retailers to set up businesses on their own, but there is no bar on domestic companies entering the retail sector.