Puri, Dec 19: Government should suitably compensate and resettle the businessmen displaced during execution of various development projects and suffered due to pandemic, Chief of Eastern media house and Editor of Odia daily Sambad Soumya Ranjan Patnaik has said.
Addressing an interaction session of the members of Puri chamber of commerce on Saturday, Soumya Pattnaik said, traders of Puri suffered a lot because of pandemic and natural calamities and the government should compensate them suitably. The business and services of Puri traders is unique in the state as they do business with visiting devotees who come to Puri for darshan of the lord Jagannath.
He said more challenging times are on as multinational companies dealing in consumer goods have affected the business of small and medium trading houses. President of the Chamber Bijay Kumar Pati said this meeting has been organised by the chamber to express their gratitude to media persons of Puri for highlighting their plight during the lock down, series of natural calamities like Fani and Jawad and displacement of traders by administration for execution of different projects.
Bijaya Pati demanded that since the business in Puri revolves around Srimandir the administration should not close temple on Sundays rather devise way to properly regulate the pilgrim traffic. More visitors to Puri means more business, he said.
Chamber of commerce felicitated senior journalist Rajkumar mohanty and gave an assistance of
Rs 50,000 to Mamata Patra, the widow of late photo journalist Loknath Patra. Soumyaranjan Pattnaik also provided to Mamata Patra an additional Rs 50,000.
