Hawkers leaders from around the country met the Home Minister, Mr. Shivraj Patil, who has been made the Chairman of Empowered Group of Ministers to draft Livelihood Protection and Regulation of Street Vending Bill and discussed the threats to hawkers.

The hawkers leaders were lead by Medha Patkar, Working President, National Hawkers Federation and Saktiman Ghosh, General Secretary, National Hawkers Federation. The leaders were joined by Mr. Abani Roy, Prominent Parliamentarian, Raju Bhise, President, YUVA, Dharmendra Kumar, Director, India FDI Watch and Cheryl of Socialist Hawkers Union.

The leaders demanded mandatory implementation of the National Policy on Urban Street Vendors by all States and Municipalities and called for decriminalization of street vending by amendment to the Indian Penal Code, Police Act, and all relevant state and Municipal acts. They demanded a complete ban on foreign direct investment in retail and comprehensive regulation of domestic corporations who are hijacking the retail trade of hawkers.

The leaders demanded a complete ban on all corporations selling fruits, vegetables, groceries, and daily use goods. The leaders also demanded social security for hawkers, including pension, maternity, and health benefits.

The Home Minister assured the delegation to incorporate their demands in the proposed draft.

Addressing a press conference later, Medha Patkar accused Mukesh Ambani of being shameless to announce to "double" their profit from Reliance Fresh. Shaktiman Ghosh announced a march to parliament during its winter session to forward hawkers demands.

Hawkers represent one of the largest contingents of the unorganized sector, which constitutes 93% of the workforce and contributes 65% of the country’s GDP.

In Solidarity !

Dharmendra Kumar
Director
India FDI Watch
M-9871179084
Email :
dkfordignity@yahoo.co.uk
dkfordignity@gmail.com

Arvind Singhal: Liberating the retail sector

http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=lmnu2&subLeft=3&autono=324337&tab=r

The report must be read more carefully, and with an open mind, by those vociferous elements in the UPA government (read: Left parties), Mayawati of BSP, and our own Don Quixotes going by names such as India FDI Watch.

Retail giants operating without license
Making the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation a captive, retail giants are setting up shops in various centres in the city. Big Bazaar still functions without the Corporation’s licence, said Mayor C. Jayan Babu.

ITC Chaupal Fresh expansion on hold

ITC, the fresh vegetable retailer under the brands Choupal Fresh have hit a pause on their expansion plans. Currently the company operates 24 Choupal Sagars - large format rural stores that complement the e-choupal initiative. It also has 27 Choupal Fresh stores in Hyderabad, Pune and Chandigarh.

Australian farmers "ripped off" by supermarkets

In Australia, the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into grocery pricing that the major grocery chains are ripping off consumers and farmers by labelling the same products differently.

K. RAHEJA HyperCity to abandon neighbourhood store format

K. Raheja-owned HyperCITY Retail has abandoned plans announced last year to launch a neighbourhodd store format under the ExpressCITY banner.

Food prices are growing, but farmers' share of the profit is not

The farmer's share of the retail food dollar is about the same today as it was in the 1970s. Take corn, for example. According to economists at the American Farm Bureau Federation, the farmer receives less than 8 cents for the corn used in an 18-ounce box of corn flakes selling for $3.30 at the grocery store. It is pretty much the same for a loaf of bread. The farmer receives about 16 cents from a loaf of bread that sells for $1.78. The farmer's share of a 5-pound bag of flour costing $2.39 is $1.10.

Govt needs to chalk out national retail policy: Assocham

The government needs to formulate a national retail policy to facilitate co-existence of both organised and unorganised retail, besides setting up an independent regulator for governing the retailing sector, a report by industry body Assocham says.

Decision on FDI in retail unlikely in UPA regime

apart from the broad political opposition, the Government has come under severe pressure from scores of trade and industry bodies from across the country against FDI in retail. A total of 44 trade and industry associations have represented to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)

Organised retail to capture 25 pc market by 2011

In a surprise finding that organised retail is growing faster than expected in India, a study has forecast that this segment could account for a quarter of the total retail revenues by 2011 from the current 8 per cent share.

Retail will drive growth of fruits and vegetables: Pawar

According to the ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, about 72 per cent of the fruit and vegetable produced in the country goes waste because of lack of proper retailing and adequate storage capacity. P K Mishra, secretary in the ministry's department of agriculture and co-operation, said so while was speaking at a Fruit and Vegetable Summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Indian Railways offering retail space
The Indian Railways is soon going to offer around 4,800 hectares of land to retail and logistics companies to set up retail outlets, agri-retail infrastructure and warehouses. Around 3,000 sites have already been identified by the railways across the country for the purpose.

Mom & Pop shops eye cooperatives to take on big retailers

Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal (BUVM), the biggest national-level association of mom and pop stores (kirana stores) that comprises 17,000 state- and district-level associations across 27 states, is planning to form co-operatives throughout India helping its members benefit from a common sourcing and shared infrastructure (logistics, storage and billing) platform.

AUSTRALIA calls for overhaul of planning laws

A report in Australia, commissioned by Urban Taskforce Australia, recommends a review of state planning laws regulating new supermarkets and large food stores.

Reliance to invest Rs 5,000 crore in converting 700-odd closed fuel pumps into malls/ multiplexes

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) which incurred a loss of about Rs 800 crore on operations of its 1,432 fuel stations during 2007-08 is looking at converting about 700 to 800 of them into shopping malls and multiplex halls.

Wal-Mart joins the dairy retail club

Wal-mart is the newest entrant in the diary procurement and retail business in Punjab. Wal-mart has been buying milk directly from cooperatives rather than from farmers.

RPG plans Rs 1000 crore expansion; revamping old stores

Eyeing Rs 1,800 crore turnover this fiscal, RPG group has planned aggressive expansion plans for its retail business.

VISHAL turnover amibitions

Vishal Group plans to increase its turnover from the current INR1,000 crore (USD248 million) to INR5,000 crore (USD1,240 million) by 2011. Vishal is having a revenue growth of 90-100% every year.

In Solidarity!

Dharmendra Kumar

Director

India FDI Watch

M-9871179084

Email:

dkfordignity@yahoo.co.uk

dkfordignity@gmail.com

Small traders and hawkers won another battle. This time in Rajasthan. In its fifth budget, Rajasthan’s BJP government has proposed several ’small trader’ friendly proposals - including a four percent tax on fruits and vegetables sold by corporate-run food stores like Reliance Fresh and Spencers. The levy is aimed at protecting street vendors. Prabhulal Saini, Agriculture Minister, Rajasthan said, “Small vendors and traders cannot compete with big retailers. So to bridge this gap and encourage the small traders, we have made a proposal to levy 4% tax. The small vendor should be able to sell vegetables without paying tax, get concessions & earn his livelihood.

In another development, European Union (EU) calls for new supermarkets inquiry. The European Union assembly has this week called for an investigation into the practices of the larger grocery chains across the continent. The assembly said that the EU’s competition body, the European Commission, should intervene to protect consumer choice and the environment.

Reliance is close to signing an agreement with Polo Ralph Lauren, the US-based design and distribution house, known for its range of high-end casual and semi-formal clothings as well as accessories and fragrances under internationally famous luxury labels like Polo by Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Ralph Lauren, Black Label, Blue Label, Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Chaps and Club Monaco, to bring these premium products in India. However, it is noteworthy that only last week, following opposition by the Pacific Heights Neighborhood Association and the Fillmore Merchants Association, the city Planning Commission of San Francisco voted 6-1 to deny Ralph Lauren permission to open a boutique on Fillmore Street. People are battling against Ralph Lauren in San Francisco’s neighborhoods, and Pacific Heights is the front line. Ralph Lauren had signed a lease for 3,500 square feet at 2040 Fillmore St., the former site of Smith & Hawken, another chain store. The New York-based fashion retailer has long wanted to open a shop on Fillmore Street, where upscale national brands like Marc Jacobs, Simon Pearce and Jonathan Adler have rung up success and turned the neighborhood street into a shopping destination where one-off boutiques mingle with national players.  While the Planning Department had recommended the commission approve a conditional use permit for Ralph Lauren, the Fillmore Street Merchants Association has decided to oppose all future chain retail.

Subhiksha, the discount retail chain of India, moves to legal measures to get drugs as drug companies’ are refusing to sell medicines directly to corporate retailers for fear of a boycott by their current retailers and wholesalers. The large drug retailing (5.5 lakh chemists across India) and wholesale industry is extremely well organised and is able to resist corporate hijack through the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists. 

In Solidarity!

Dharmendra Kumar

Director

India FDI Watch

M-09871179084

Email:dkfordignity@yahoo.co.uk, dkfordignity@gmail.com

Small traders and hawkers won another battle. This time in Rajasthan. In its fifth budget, Rajasthan's BJP government has proposed several 'small trader' friendly proposals - including a four percent tax on fruits and vegetables sold by corporate-run food stores like Reliance Fresh and Spencers. The levy is aimed at protecting street vendors. Prabhulal Saini, Agriculture Minister, Rajasthan said, “Small vendors and traders cannot compete with big retailers. So to bridge this gap and encourage the small traders, we have made a proposal to levy 4% tax. The small vendor should be able to sell vegetables without paying tax, get concessions & earn his livelihood.

In another development, European Union (EU) calls for new supermarkets inquiry. The European Union assembly has this week called for an investigation into the practices of the larger grocery chains across the continent. The assembly said that the EU's competition body, the European Commission, should intervene to protect consumer choice and the environment.

Reliance is close to signing an agreement with Polo Ralph Lauren, the US-based design and distribution house, known for its range of high-end casual and semi-formal clothings as well as accessories and fragrances under internationally famous luxury labels like Polo by Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Ralph Lauren, Black Label, Blue Label, Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Chaps and Club Monaco, to bring these premium products in India. However, it is noteworthy that only last week, following opposition by the Pacific Heights Neighborhood Association and the Fillmore Merchants Association, the city Planning Commission of San Francisco voted 6-1 to deny Ralph Lauren permission to open a boutique on Fillmore Street. People are battling against Ralph Lauren in San Francisco's neighborhoods, and Pacific Heights is the front line. Ralph Lauren had signed a lease for 3,500 square feet at 2040 Fillmore St., the former site of Smith & Hawken, another chain store. The New York-based fashion retailer has long wanted to open a shop on Fillmore Street, where upscale national brands like Marc Jacobs, Simon Pearce and Jonathan Adler have rung up success and turned the neighborhood street into a shopping destination where one-off boutiques mingle with national players. While the Planning Department had recommended the commission approve a conditional use permit for Ralph Lauren, the Fillmore Street Merchants Association has decided to oppose all future chain retail.

Subhiksha, the discount retail chain of India, moves to legal measures to get drugs as drug companies’ are refusing to sell medicines directly to corporate retailers for fear of a boycott by their current retailers and wholesalers. The large drug retailing (5.5 lakh chemists across India) and wholesale industry is extremely well organised and is able to resist corporate hijack through the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists.

In Solidarity!

Dharmendra Kumar

Director

India FDI Watch

M-09871179084

Email:dkfordignity@yahoo.co.uk, dkfordignity@gmail.com