Swadeshi Jagran Manch welcomes MHA's decision to exclude supply of non-essential goods by e-commerce players during lockdown

New Delhi [India], April 20 (ANI): Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) on Monday welcomed the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) decision to exclude the supplies of the non-essential goods by the e-commerce players for the remaining period of COVID-19 lockdown.
"SJM firmly believes that an exemption in this regard would have led to a non-level playing field for offline retailers. Moreover, e-commerce players can neither keep their own inventory nor can indulge in the sale of private labels. The exemption would have only helped them to use their own network of retailers. This would not only have been unfair to the local retailers but would have given an unfair advantage to the giant e-commerce players," Dr Ashwani Mahajan, National Co-Convenor of SJM said in a release.
"In the fight against the pandemic, the grocery stores did exemplary work and used their skills to not only ensure the supplies to their consumers but also shown maturity in maintaining social distancing and hygiene practice. The services of small traders and grocers are appreciated by one and all. We also hope that the state governments which have issued guidelines for e-commerce would also withdraw their permissions," the SJM added.
The SJM further stated: "SJM also welcomes the amendment that changes the Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) norms. This had been SJM's demand for long and became more necessary after the reports surfaced of Chinese funds and banks started picking up stocks of various Indian or India based critical companies. The new rules make it mandatory for the Chinese companies, like those from Pakistan and Bangladesh, to require mandatory clearances from the Indian government."
The SJM also welcomed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)'s crackdown on the virtual meeting app Zoom.
"MHA and CERT-In must also investigate other Chinese apps, especially Helo and TikTok. There are a series of reports and information on how they are indulging in the personal data thefts and the data was used in the events leading to threatening national security risks, communal & social disharmony. This is a fit case to be investigated for their transfer of data, and what happens to their data after it reaches their servers in China," Dr Mahajan said in the release. (ANI)