Ao Students’ Conference (AKM) and the Mokokchung Chamber of Commerce & Industries (MCCI) have appealed to the people of Mokokchung district to remain vigilant against imminent threats posed by the mushrooming of “so-called ‘Weekly Bazaar’ in the district”, especially around the periphery of the district headquarters.
In a joint press release, AKM vice president Akummeren Longchar and MCCI general secretary Limalenden Longkumer reminded of the perilous state the ‘Weekly Bazaar’ was taking the fragile local economy to and stressed the urgency of coming together and tackling the issue.
They alleged a diabolical nexus between some influential and a sophisticated syndicate of black marketing goons from across the state border working together to destabilize the local economy by hijacking the formal market.
Calling upon the people of Mokokchung to be wary of the traders involved in ‘Weekly Bazaar’ as “they are of dubious origin and identity”, AKM and MCCI said the products sold were of inferior quality and were not inspected or certified by any competent authority.
Further, they reminded citizens that by purchasing from those traders, they were encouraging an illicit business activity as this ‘Weekly Bazaar’ was an illegitimate shadow market. AKM and MCCI also reminded citizens that they were not contributing to the economic development of the district and not contributing anything to the state’s revenue by purchasing from those traders.
They said ‘Weekly Bazaar’ was not a registered business and there was no levying and computation of taxes on them as they evaded VAT and all codified fiscal rules.
On July 9, AKM and MCCI said 11 undocumented traders involved in the shadow business were apprehended by police at Mokokchung DEF area for not possessing ILP.
AKM and MCCI claimed that those 11 “dubious” traders and their vehicles laden with uncertified consignment to be sold at the Weekly Bazaar were reportedly brought to the Mokokchung police station, but some patrons of “good influence” showed up to bail out the ILP defaulters and their unspecified consignment and vehicles. When they arrived at the Police Station, AKM and MCCI said all the vehicles laden with unspecified consignment, probably with contraband items, were nowhere to be seen.
AKM had initiated ‘Survival Mokokchung campaign’ to flush out illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and to safeguard local socio-economic future, but ‘weekly bazaar’ was proving to be undoing what it have achieved so far, they said.
MCCI said it stood for safeguarding genuine traders and for promoting a free, fair and healthily competitive market, but added it would be compelled to make drastic moves when shadow markets hijack the formal market.
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