Shopkeepers force Sabha to refund money

DIBRUGARH, March 4: In an unprecedented move, the reception committee of the 66th session of the Asam Sahitya Sabha today was forced by shopkeepers to refund them their application money. The decision to refund the money was taken today after a prolonged and heated debate on the matter. Accordingly, those who applied for restaurants would now get back Rs 2225 each, those who put up tea stalls would be given back Rs 1550 each and those who had put up betelnut stalls at the session venue at Sahityarathi Kshetra would be given back Rs 940 each. It may be recalled that there was chaos in the allotment of shops at the Sahityarathi Kshetra, with the Committee coming to face much flak for messing up the process and for poor construction of stalls, among others. Agitated shopkeepers went to the extent of disrupting the Sabha's proceedings on two occasions, demanding refund of their fees. There was just too many restaurants and tea stalls to do a profitable business, and the location was blamed for this, while the lack of sanitation facilities ensured that not many of the visitors thronged the stalls.