"Market associations not responsible for maintaining law and order": Chamber of Trade and Industry

"Market associations not responsible for maintaining law and order": Chamber of Trade and Industry. CTI said market associations couldn't be held responsible for maintaining law and order when they don't have any legal authority.

Different markets in the National Capital have been shut repeatedly due to violations of Covid-19 norms in the market. Some well-known shopping intersections of Delhi like Sarojini Nagar market, Laxmi Nagar markets, Lajpat Central markets were found not following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour meanwhile these markets were closed for few days until the further order.

Whereas, on Monday The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI)  said," market associations could not be held responsible for maintaining law and order when they didn't have any legal authority. They said This was the responsibility of the police and district administration. I objected to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) orders putting the onus for controlling crowds in markets on their respective associations,  said the trader's body to the Lieutenant Governor.

Meanwhile, DDMA shut a few Main markets of Delhi stating that it is the responsibility of the respective market associations to take all measures to ensure that Covid-19 appropriate behaviour is maintained in the market.

According to the statement given by CTI chairman, Brijesh Goyal he said "shopkeepers could only be responsible for their shops and godowns. He said "it (DDMA) states that it is the responsibility of the market association to control the crowd in markets and ensure that people follow appropriate behaviour. He raised a question stating "how can a market association handle the crowd and enforce law and order without having any legal authority?" Adding more he requested Anil Baijal to withdraw the line from its orders putting the onus for controlling crowds in the market. The responsibility of ensuring that Covid-19 guidelines are followed in public places lies with municipal bodies, police and district administration. "The markets are being made soft targets."