ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF INFORMAL (UNORGANIZED) SECTOR PROFESSIONALS IN NAGPUR DISTRICT

Indian retail is dominated by a large number of small retailers consisting of the local kirana shops, owner-manned general stores, chemists, footwear shops, apparel shops, paan and beedi (local betel leaf and tobacco) shops, hand-cart hawkers, pavement vendors, etc. which together make up the so-called "unorganized retail" or traditional retail. The last few years have witnessed the entry of a number of organized retailers opening stores in various modern formats in metros and other important cities. Unorganized retailers normally do not pay taxes and most of them are not even registered for sales tax, VAT, or income tax. (Zia and Azam, 2013) Retailing in India is predominantly unorganized. According to a survey by AT Kearney, an overwhelming proportion of the Rs. 400,000 crore retail markets are unorganized in India. In fact, only a Rs. 20,000 crore segment of the market is organized. The sector is highly fragmented with 97% of its business being run by the unorganized retailers like the traditional family run stores and corner stores. The sector is the largest source of employment after agriculture, and has deep penetration into rural India generating more than 10% of India’s GDP. Indian retail is dominated by a large number of unorganized retailers consisting of the local kirana stores, chemists, footwear shops, apparel shops, paan and beedi shops, hand-cart hawkers, pavement vendors, etc.