Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)

Udupi, Jan 20: "If the government does not withdraw the weekend curfew, the shop owners will violate it and keep their shops open," challenged Santhosh Kamath, president, Canara Businessmen Union.   

Addressing the media at Hotel Ocean Pearl, here on Thursday, January 20, he said, "The government must withdraw the weekend curfews. These curfews will affect the businesspersons who are already financially affected by the earlier lockdowns. The employers are struggling to pay salaries/wages to their staff. Why  is there a biased stance when it comes to the public and the government or party events?"

He demanded that the government withdraw the weekend norms by tomorrow. "We have tried to apprise the government of our situation but it is not ready to accept. Most of the petty businesspersons are resorting to suicide due to financial crisis. Now we are left with only one way-demand for our right to live. Let the government let us live by dropping the curfew. Most of the businesses run during the weekends but the curfew is making it difficult for us", he lamented. 

M G Hegde, honourary president of the Union said , "The weekend curfews are actually unscientific and inhuman. If the government can allow religious programmes but why not shopping malls. We have not arrived at this decision immediately. We have gathered opinions of all the shop owners. After a collective opinion, we have come to this resolution. Now it is the government's turn to decide whether it will go by experts' opinion or allow us to work during weekends. The shops are not ready to shut their business down. If curfew goes on, how long can we survive? If the government does not consider our request, we will go our own way. We are ready to follow Covid SOP but it should have a soft corner for businesspersons."

Diwakar Sanil, district president, Zilla Varthakara Hitharakshana Vedike Udupi, Praveen Malke, vice president, Canara Businessmen Union, Maxim Saldanha, secretary, Walter Saldanha,  Raju Bhandari, district president, Savitha Samaja, Rama Kundar, district Sound and Lighting System Association,  Gururaj Shetty,  district president, Tailors' Association and others were present.