Licence

renewal rules leave traders divided, while some believe it to be a sensible decision many call it a way of earning money for officials.

Sajjan Raj Mehta, trade activist, in Deccan Herald, claimed the practice of trade licence will increase corruption.

“It is a draconian law and does not serve a purpose. Only officials will be able to make money, troubling the traders to renew licenses. It is hard to obtain a new licence. While manufacturing establishments are allowed to operate with one trade licence, we retailers are burdened with a number of licences.”

Dr K.V. Thrilok Chandra, Special Commissioner (Health), BBMP, said: “Trade licence renewal is important because the government uses that money to keep the shops hygienic. We as a local body are responsible for maintaining public health. Earlier BBMP used to renew licences once a year, but now to make traders’ lives easier, it renews

Not everyone feels that trade licence renewal is problematic.

Pavan Mishra, manager of Big Mishra Pedha in Jayanagar, said: “We live in a democracy and that’s how it works. If government does not collect money from us, how will it develop the areas we live in?” yukta.m@iijnm.org

Renewal of trade licences is helpful as it updates the government about the number of people who continue their businesses.

As per a report in Deccan Herald, BBMP data show a gradual drop in trade licence renewals for three years.

As per licenseinindia.com, a trade licence is regulated by different state governments and is issued to certify that the business is being conducted in accordance with rules, standards and safety guidelines; thereby, ensuring that the residents are not affected by health hazards, and the nuisance brought forth by the improper and illegal conduct of trade.

Sandeep

Anirudhan, founder, Citizens’ Agenda, an organization that reports on urban issues including water and environment, shared: “I didn’t participate in the march but supported it on social media…. The notice given was completely wrong and from this one can understand that the police men were given orders from the higher officials above. This is nothing but a political game played by the politicians.”

The Observer tried to contact activists who received the notice but its calls were unanswered.

According to an Indian Express report, the Karnataka government’s decision to drop the plan to build a flyover on Sankey Road following widespread opposition. Some of the protesters learnt that they were booked for protesting against the plan in February. Only when they started getting notices from the Sadashivanagar police did they learn they were among 70 people booked under Sections 143 (un- lawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint), 283 (obstruction to any person in a public way) and 149 (unlawful assembly with common object) of the Indian Penal Code.

Chandan Kumar N, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Seshadripuram sub-division, informed The Observer: “We have not received any information about activists having permission for holding a solidarity march near

Sankey Tank. Even if they want to carry on with their march they have to go to Freedom Park. They were not supposed to hold a march in a public place. They were blocking the road as well, so we filed an FIR”

He continued: “If there’s a protest, they should contact us (police) for permission. After we receive the request, we inspect the reason and then let them protest. This might have been a peaceful protest, but others might see it as a platform and join it for different purposes. This causes clashes among people…. As the elections are approaching, they brought this up days after the FIR was filed.” vindhya.p@iijnm.org

The proposed plan to widen the Sankey Tank Bund Road and construct a flyover in Bengaluru has drawn the ire of urban experts and citizens in the past few weeks, with nearly 200 residents, all dressed in black, walking together at Sankey Tank in protest against the project on Sunday morning.