Hyderabad : Federation of Retailer Association of India (FRAI), a representative body of 4 crore micro, small and medium retailers, with Retail Associations from across the country as members of the Federation, welcomed and extended support to Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) as it entered Hyderabad. This is a part 90-day Rath Yatra organised by traders all over India to protest against the Walmart-Flipkart deal. FRAI also appeals the Government of India to revoke back the Walmart – Flipkart deal as the livelihoods of millions of families are at stake because of deep discounting, loss funding and market concentration strategies adopted by the internet marketing companies.

Unorganised retail in India is the second largest employment generating sector in the country after agriculture. Many retailers are from the lowest economic strata,  sole earning members of their families and work hard just to provide basic meals and amenities to their families. For these retailers, meaningful employment is hard to come by and they have to depend on petty jobs to sustain ourselves. The retailers work for long hours, mostly from sunrise till late into the night, every day of the week. They don’t take any day off as the cost of doing business and the cost of living keeps on increasing.

Sh. Ram Asre Mishra, President, Federation of Retailers Association of India, said, “We believe that the Walmart – Flipkart deal will jeopardise the livelihoods of India’s millions of retailers. Such collaborations of multinationals will increase the cost of doing business for the poor retailers and will severely impact our daily earnings. At a time when unemployment rates in the country are at their highest and our children and family members are not able to find appropriate employment, this deal would destroy us completely. We therefore appeal to central government to scarp this deal.”

FRAI entails 34 Retail Associations from North, South, East and West as the members of its Federation. The federation has been working to protect the interests of poor retailers in the country and raise issues which impact their employment opportunities and render help to such people who are unable to express their views. The federation also bring to the attention of the Government policies which will help promote and protect employment in the unorganised retail sector and create an environment of ease of doing business in India.