Jharkhand chamber observes dawn-to-desk shutdown in

Ranchi, Feb 4 (PTI) Most shops and factories today downedtheir shutters following the dawn-to-dusk statewide shutdowncalled by the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce andIndustries (FJCCI) in protest against the recent increase ofVAT on motor parts, blankets, towels and other items.

"From small to big shops, from retailers to wholesalers,the response to our shutdown was huge and total," claimedFJCCI President Pradip Sharma.

Asked what would be the next course of action, Sharmasaid "Now the FJCCI�s priority is to support the 34th NationalGames starting from February 12. Only after that we willponder over our next course of action."

The shutdown was called against the state government�sdecision to increase VAT on several items.

While announcing the increase last month, the governmenthad claimed that some of the neighbouring states werecollecting more VAT than Jharkhand and that the state had beenlosing revenue.