Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday announced to constitute a committee that would be headed by Secretary Agriculture to rationalise market fees on commodities in the state to facilitate the traders.

After a meeting with the HP Veopar Mandal, Thakur said that the state government was committed to the welfare of the traders and had initiated several schemes for their welfare.

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The state government has launched various schemes for their smooth business and it has improved its ranking in Ease of Doing Business from 16th rank to 7th rank.

He stated that the GST Advisory Committee would be constituted at State, District, and Tehsil levels to ensure better coordination between the government and traders. The decision would also reduce footfalls in government offices, the CM said, adding the government will sympathetically consider the demand of setting up of Traders Welfare Fund to provide relief to the traders and their families in distress.

He further stated that the government would also examine the issue of bringing the traders under the Group Insurance Scheme.

“The state government has recently launched the Tax Haat Programme for time bound redressal of the compliance related queries and issues of the stakeholders and to make them aware of the changes taking place in GST law and procedures.

The department is also focusing on increasing voluntary compliance for GST revenue enhancement.

In addition, all the irrelevant rules would be wiped out to ensure a good attitude amongst the traders.and meetings of the Traders Welfare Board would be held regularly so that issues pertaining to the welfare of traders could be discussed, the CM stated.

The CM said the government would also ensure the health officials or any government authority lifting samples from the shops make payment in that respect immediately to the traders.

The state government would also rationalise the opening and closing times of shops and other business establishments to facilitate the traders to safeguard their interests.

State Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj, Education Minister Govind Singh Thakur, Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Minister Rajinder Garg, were present on the occasion among others.