Kolkata – At least 2 lakh sweet shops are likely to go on strike for a few days if the government does not agree to lift GST on sweet. This decision is not unexpected given the fact that the sweets traders have been on a protest against GST since the day of its inception. However, the decision to go on a strike came from the government’s way of dealing with their demands. The pleas that they have raised went unaccounted for.
The sweet shop owners have gone on strike on Monday, protesting the government’s lack of interest in their demand. However, when the strike went unnoticed, the sweet shop owners decided to go on a hunger strike from 24th August to 26th August. The hunger strike is said to take place on Ranirashmoni Road.
Rabindra Kumar Pal, the general secretary of the association, had stated that it was three weeks ago they have sent a letter to the central government notifying them about the strike. In the letter, they have also mentioned the decision to go on a hunger strike. However, nothing has been done ever since.
The general secretary has said that 15 days time would be given to the government to consider their demands. If nothing has been done, they would again go on a three days strike. The secretary has also said that this is for the first time in the history, the sweet shop owners have been going through such challenges.
He reminded that there is a vast difference in the sweets that sell in West Bengal and other states. He said that sweets like rasogolla and sandesh are perishable. These are not like laddoos. Therefore, sweets have never come under the tax. The question has been raised because of the decision to exempt fish from GST because this is a perishable item.
Posters have been raised in front of the sweet shops declaring the move against Modi. Once the strike gets observed, other sweet owners would come and join the hunger strike.
