ITANAGAR, 4 May: The Arunachal ST Bachao Andolan (ASTBA) on Sunday expressed support to the state government’s move suspending all weekly markets.
Addressing a press conference at the Arunachal Press Club here, ASTBA chairman Taw Paul expressed concern over the growing number of non-APST population, especially from neighbouring Assam. He said that even if the weekly markets are allowed to resume, non-local vendors should not be allowed to operate from there.
“The ASTBA will soon be writing a memorandum to the chief minister, listing various points and suggestions concerning illegal access to ILP and placing of weekly markets,” he said.
ASTBA Lower Subansiri district unit chairman Millo Ambo said there are places where ILPs are produced through fraudulent means. He said that this is not just a concern for the markets but a larger security threat for the local communities. “The market population of the traders has a ratio of 8:2, with non-locals outnumbering the locals,” he said.
Weekly markets were earlier initiated with the aim of giving an opportunity to the local vendors and growers to bring their produce to the markets, but now it has turned out to be a floodgate for outsiders to come to the state through illegal means, Ambo said. “There are many non-local sellers who sell in the weekly markets without ILP, causing a shift in the demography,” he said.
ASTBA central executive committee general secretary Gollo Muze also spoke.
