Srinagar: Local entrepreneurs on Monday staged a protest demonstration at press enclave here to draw public attention to the ‘grave injustice’ and to prevent any move by Airport Authority of India.
The protest comes, as Airport Authority of India plans to handover all the shopping spots in the airport to a master franchisee – a non-state subject.
The entrepreneurs claimed that they are tenants of commercial space at Srinagar airport for many years by virtue of bids on payment of license fees to AAI.
Earlier, notices have been served to the entrepreneurs to vacate the shops within three to six months; including those whose contract is still valid 2019. The tender was floated by AAI for evicting the entire space at the Srinagar airport to a master concessionaire who would run it as per its convenience in turn.
“They have asked some to evict shops by three months, and some by six months as per validity of the lease,” one of the shopkeeper, who owns food joint, said. “They have even put caveats in the high court so that nobody brings a stay against the arbitrary decision to shunt us out.”
“The qualification for tendering as a Concessionaire was fixed in such a way that hardly any local entrepreneur could qualify. The conditions for qualifying as a Concessionaire were made deliberately difficult so, that no local entrepreneur could be able to participate in the absence of having a minimum annual turnover of Rs 6 Crore and 50 lacs, and tie up with two international and one national brand,” a group of protesters said.
Protesters said, Kashmir has been singled out for this discrimination evidently as no such tender has been floated for Jammu Airport which caters ‘on account of around a Crore visitors of Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage’— more traffic than Srinagar Airport.
“This action of Airport Authority of India is one more step in the direction of crippling local entrepreneurs while benefiting businesses from outside the State. This press demonstration was aimed to bring attention of public to the grave injustice,” said Mobeen Shah ex-president of Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry, adding, the state is going through financial crisis especially post floods of 2014. Moreover, this action will render hundreds of local employees jobless.
