The trading community in Jharkhand, especially grocery shop owners, kept their shutters down on Wednesday in protest against a state government notification some time ago that brought into force Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act (ECA).

The section restricts them from storing food grain above the levels specified in the central act.

According to Arun Budhia, immediate past president of the Ranchi-based Federation of Jharkhand Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FJCC&I), around 20,000 traders from across the state gathered in the capital on Wednesday to register their protest against imposition of the section.

A delegation of traders under the FJCC&I banner met chief minister Madhu Koda and submitted a memorandum to him.

“We have no powers to amend the central act; we can only see that it is not misused by government machinery,” Kamlesh Singh, the state’s water, food & civil supplies minister, told FE over the phone on Wednesday.

The minister said the department was looking into the traders’ demand for an increased quota of food grains that they could stock.

The Essential Commodities Act (ECA) doesn’t allow traders to store more than 250 quintals of food grains such as rice or wheat. For edible oils, oilseeds and lentils, the limit is 500 quintals of each.

Singh, who met Koda on Tuesday, said his department had decided to form a four/five-member committee that would visit the neighbouring states of West Bengal, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, etc. The committee would submit its report to the government after studying the situation there.

“On receipt of the report, all our ministers, including the chief minister, will sit and decide on the future course of action, including granting of relief,” said the food & civil supplies minister.

Budhia said the FJCC&I had taken a decision that no trader would seek a trading licence, despite letters having been issued by various deputy commissioners of different districts of the state directing grocers to do so.

“Going for a licence would mean working within the existing quota of food grains and would invite the penal provisions of Section 7 of the EC Act,” said Budhia.

Suresh Sonthalia, vice-president, Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCC&I), echoed the same sentiment.