The Federation of West Bengal Trade Associations (FWBTA), the apex body representing small traders and hawkers in West Bengal, has opposed the entry of big retailers and growth of organised retail in West Bengal, Indian or foreign.
According to Mahesh Singhania, chairman of FWBTA, entry of large retailers like Spencers and Reliance Retail under Indian ownership, and the multinational retailer Metro Cash & Carry or Walmart would seriously hurt small traders, as these retailers directly buy from farmers.
There are 2.75 lakh hawkers in Kolkata, 16 lakh in West Bengal and four crore across the country. The average per day sale of each hawker operating between Ballygunje and Rashbehari in Kolkata is Rs 2,000.
"These companies have to stop buying directly from the farmers and instead procure from the local market. There are thousands of middlemen who are employed in the supply chain. Entry of big retailers will simply destroy the chain and make us lose our livelihood," Singhania said.
According to FWBTA, a lot of large discount companies and retailers have have other ways of collecting money like the parking fee inside shopping malls, which is at least 50 per cent higher than what it would be elsewhere.
"If large retailers enter the supply chain, the interest of small traders will be affected. These companies may initially open a few outlets but later they will increase their own chains across the state, thus wiping us out completely in a few years," Singhania added.
Local traders and hawkers are also against Reliance Retail, Spencer's, Subhiksha and WalMart.
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While Reliance Retail had to face the brunt of Forward Bloc and hawkers and many of its stores in Kolkata were rummaged, Spencer's had to redo its pricing strategy recently to assure protection to local traders.
"Metro Cash & Carry will directly procure from farmers at better prices. Then why should farmers sell to the locals like us. We will then have to compromise on our profit margins," voiced Debashis Kumar, local councillor of ward 84, a trade unit in Kolkata.
According to Kumar, "It really hurts the business of small traders and retailers in the city when these big malls come up which claim to sell cheaper foods and garments. We do not want such malls within two kilometres of traditional market places. The malls should not sell fruits, vegetables or low-priced apparel. Also, the West Bengal government should have a rehabilitation or alternative in place for small-scale hawkers and traders like ourselves in the face of competition from larger retail chains."
On the government's part, Spencer's has been directed to sell only packaged masala and spices, instead of selling it loose, for not less than 500 gm.
Only posto seeds, being an expensive commodity, can be sold in packets of 250 gm.
All vegetables would be subject to a min purchase of 3 kgs.
However, Spencer's pointed out that these conditions are forcing its customers to spend more.
"This is also leading to restrictive trade practices as Spencer's cannot impose conditions of minimum purchase of essential commodities and perishables on the customer," pointed out a source in Spencer's.