Merchant Association Leh headed by Haji Riyaz Ahmed, President, presented a representation on behalf of all the traders of Leh to the interlocutor for Govt of India to Jammu and Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma on his visit to Leh on March 12. 

In the representation letter, he stressed on the need to bring down the rates of air tickets to Leh from various parts of the country and capacity and frequency of the air cargo for the traders of Leh, especially during the winter season.

He requested the interlocutor through the representation about declaring Leh as a schedule area, which would be highly beneficial for the people of Leh. He also said that from old times the people of Leh has been very cooperative to the Indian Army posted in Leh and same has to be said for the Army also. 

The army used to buy the vegetables and other edibles from the local farmers from which the farmers were highly benefitted. But, in recent times the army has decided to cut off the purchase by about 50 % which has highly demotivated the local farmers and their cooperative attitude towards the army also got affected by this gesture of the Army.

So, to maintain a balance, he requested to direct the army to acquire the vegetables and other agro-products from the local farmers also. Through the representation he also stressed on removing the toll post at Upshi, saying it highly affected the retail costs of the commodities in Leh with respect to that of other parts of the country. He said that removal of the Upshi toll post would bring down the retail prices of the commodities largely.