Coimbatore: For a brief time tension prevailed at the 'Build Intec' at CODISSIA trade complex as visitors who came along with children were denied entry.
Coimbatore: For a brief time tension prevailed at the 'Build Intec' at CODISSIA trade complex as visitors who came along with children were denied entry.
Build Intec and Water Intec 2020, the three-day fair was kick-started on February 21 at CODISSIA. Today, though several people thronged the fair on Saturday, a few people had to return disappointed, as common public were denied entry till 3PM and business visitors were also left upset after they were denied entry, as they had brought their children along with them.
When questioned the organisers stated that the fair is allowed for common public only between 3 to 10 pm and till then only business visitors will be allowed. And, the timings are clearly mentioned in the advertisement.
According to G Vinodh (44) from Kalapatti who had visited the fair alleged that , “I came out with family to visit the fair but they denied entry because my 9-year-old son accompanied me. Even non-business visitors were allowed but a business visitors like me was denied entry citing that a kid accompanied me."
He added that this is a democratic country and what they did was human rights violation.
Enraged by the poor response by the organisers, Harish, a real estate businessman from the city questions that "Isn't it silly to deny entry for kids,? Even in my case, after a family outing we had come to visit the expo. So, how is it possible to leave the kids in the car or make them stand outside the fair, as proposed by the organisers. Such poorly planned arrangements is a menace for the visitors."
People also complained that they were made to wait outside for 2 hours and the organisers did not bother to talk to them initially.
“We came as a family. My brother is a building contractor and so we accompanied him. We had brought two kids of 4 and 3 yrs old. After giving us the pass they didnot allow us citing children. They asked us to leave the children outside the fair. Also, the organisers from CODISSIA were very rude in their approach. We were upset by the way they treated us", stated Selvi ( 30) from Peelamedu.
Sharing his bitter experience, Balaji, an entrepreneur from the city stated that it was very peculiar to see the organisers split the timing for various visitors. "Practically, it is not possible for visitors to leave kids outside the fair. In this day and age when everything is available in the comfort of our homes, when people make the effort to travel to one end of Coimbatore to visit and also all companies are hungry for business, putting these restrictions seem counterproductive. This is a minor inconvenience for public but what about the opportunities lost for participating companies? Wish more thought goes before placing such restrictions."
He added that while I had planned again to re-visit the fair on Monday, the organisers shocked by saying that "On Monday, only students will be allowed."
When contacted, the CODISSIA Chairman Ramamurthy said “Children are not allowed inside the fair because there are heavy equipments displayed in the fair which will be demonstrated for business visitors. After 3 PM there will be no working models and children can be safe. Also, during the morning hours business visitors will find it difficult, if there are kids around when they come in for business enquiries."
He noted that though we have communicated clearly in all our advertisements that entry is allowed only for business visitors above 16 years, such unfortunate events, do happen.
"Going forward we will be more clear in our communication and see to that such confusions do not happen", the CODISSIA President noted.
Nearly, 20 people have given a written complaint to police with regard to this issue demanding action.