Calcutta, March 20: The largest federation of traders in Bengal has equated Mamata Banerjee's plan to legalise hawkers to promoting 'black money', launching the first such open criticism of the ruling establishment in recent memory.

'The turnover of the traders is in white whereas countless crores of rupees in the hands of hawkers remain unaccounted for. By trying to legalise their operations while not making them accountable, isn't the state encouraging the circulation of black money?' asked Mahesh Singhania, the chairman of the Federation of the West Bengal Trade Associations (FWBTA).

The chief of the federation, which has around 2.5 lakh members, said 'political aspirations' had taken precedence over the rights of traders to conduct legitimate business and those of citizens to free movement on pavements and roads.

The chief minister had promised to regularise by the next Bengali New Year hawkers who register themselves with civic bodies and apply for trade licences across Bengal.

The federation threatened long-term agitation and non-cooperation if its demands for 'fair treatment' were not met.

According to the president of a city-based chamber of commerce, although trade bodies do not speak out against the government publicly, the exception was necessitated by the losses forced upon the trading community by the hawkers.

'Organised traders are the biggest sufferers of hawkers. Trading is already suffering because of lack of industrialisation and allied issues of laggard employment generation and sluggish growth in income. Now, if hawkers are given a free run, the future of trading is doomed,' the chamber official said.

Some estimates put the number of hawkers in Calcutta at 3.25 lakh but the actual figure could be higher. The federation puts the number at not less than 5 lakh in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) area.

Pointing out that hawkers would now enjoy the fruits of legalisation but would continue to remain outside the purview of consumer protection laws and taxation, the federation demanded commensurate benefits against the taxes the traders pay.

'Either give us the benefits or allow us to conduct business without taxes. In fact, you should be making the hawkers pay all taxes, once their existence is legally recognised by a trade licence,' said Singhania.

He warned the government against imposing new taxes or fees on legitimate traders to meet the financial obligations towards hawkers.

According to the federation, Mamata's decision will not help curb the proliferation of hawkers as the announcement is likely to encourage a lot more people to set up stalls on pavements and roads. The chief minister said that only those who had a stall till March 13, 2015, would be given licences but there is hardly any mechanism to check an increase in the number of hawkers.