Never in India’s history have the micro and small sector been under such a sustained attack for so long. The massive loss of jobs is truly mind boggling – 2.8 crore merchant establishments have shut down over just 1 year. Data suggests that of the 12.2 crore jobs lost last year, 75% or 9.1 crore, were small traders. What is amazing in all of this is, that not only is this the same segment of job creators who have been forced to pick up the highest tab in the governments demonetisation and GST implementation, but also the ones whose livelihood and interests have been trampled upon by large corporates like Amazon in absolute and flagrant violation of Indian law, with negligible regulatory or legal consequences.
Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, ‘As Amazon Hits India’s Job Market & Small Businesses, Need of the Hour is to Rein in the Corporate Giant’, CNN News18
