Shopkeepers at Maruthamalai foothills oppose auctioning shops individually
The Hindu
COIMBATORE Several shopkeepers from Maruthamalai foothills, staging a protest at the Collectorate he
Several shopkeepers from Maruthamalai foothills, staging a protest at the Collectorate here on Monday, said they could not afford the rent proposed if the outlets were auctioned individually by the Somayampalayam Panchayat Union.
At the weekly grievances redress meeting, M. Marlin, a shopkeeper, alleged, “In the earlier system, the shops were auctioned together. We paid ₹20-₹30 as daily rent to the contractor till now. Now, if individually auctioned, the rent may vary with each contractor and most of us may not be able to afford hiked rates.”
The shopkeepers said they were planning to protest outside the Panchayat Union office if the auction process was not stopped.
An official in the Somayampalayam Panchayat Union said this was an annual bidding procedure. Last year, 22 shops were auctioned totally for ₹3.8 lakh to a single contractor. To regulate each shop’s operation, separate auctioning was planned this year in which the contractors must pay a deposit or ‘earnest money’ of ₹30,000 each for nine photo studios, ₹30,000 for nine petty shops and ₹15,000 for festive shops. Further, for the outlets in the newly-constructed bus stand here, the deposit would be ₹50,000 each.
According to an official source, the bus stand work was completed at ₹409.2 lakh and toilets and water kiosks were added two months ago. The festive shops would be auctioned by March 24, and all the stores by March 31. The outlets would start functioning under the new contractors from April 1, the source added.