Mumbai: More than 20,000 people assembled at Azad Maidan on yesterday to protest against the entry of business organizations and foreign chains including Wal-Mart into the Indian retail business segment.

The protesters, who were also calling for the effectuation of labour laws in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), belonged to varied groupings comprising retail merchants, wholesale traders, hawkers and Mathadi laborers.

They are opposing the changes to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act, which permits businesses to purchase products from growers and sell them straightly to the users.

Mohan Gurnani, president of the Federation of Association of Maharashtra (FAM) said, “Various groups that have never come together are protesting all over the State under the umbrella of “Vyapar Rozgar Suraksha Kriti Samiti.”

Narendra Patil, leader of the Mathadi workers’ union, said, “Our demands are simple. We want the amendment to the APMC Act cancelled. We do not want big corporates, Indian or otherwise, to enter the retail industry and labour laws should be implemented in SEZs.”

Patil told the gathering that an action would be necessary if their demands fell on deaf ears. He referred to the shutting down of Reliance Fresh retail stores in UP and demanded a similar action from the Mathadi workers.

Speakers such as Vivek Monterio of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions and trade unionist Baba Adhao stated that it was a story that agriculturists as well as consumers would enjoy ‘farm to fork’ policy.

For many years, wholesalers were held responsible for farmers getting deprived returns. The big corporate would annihilate rivalry and monopolise the business. It would only cause mistreatment of farmers and consumers, they added.