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HomeIndiaDelhi e-rickshaw drivers, vendors turn to selling vegetables as lockdown dries up...

Delhi e-rickshaw drivers, vendors turn to selling vegetables as lockdown dries up finances

Non-essential business owners have taken up this less profitable livelihood to survive lockdown. But they fear a disrupted supply chain may affect resumption of businesses.

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New Delhi: With an extension of the Covid-19 lockdown, many small non-essential businesses in Delhi such as laundry services, e-rickshaw drivers, roadside eatery owners and small shopkeepers have now taken to selling fruits and vegetables to fend for themselves.

These people have been forced to take up the far less profitable business as the lockdown, which banned non-essential services, dried up much of their finances.

Take the example of Brij Kumar, who was an e-rickshaw driver in Dwarka before the lockdown, but now sells fruits and vegetables on a cart in the service lanes of Dwarka.

“I thought the lockdown would last for two weeks and I had enough saved away to manage. But then when the lockdown got extended beyond 14 April, I had to think of a way out. My neighbour was selling vegetables and I tagged along with him to Azadpur Mandi to buy vegetables and fruits,” he told ThePrint.

Before driving e-rickshaw, Kumar was an electrician, who was working in one of the societies in Dwarka. But he lost that job in 2018, following which he started driving the e-rickshaw, while also working as an electrician on a part-time basis. But the extension of the lockdown again forced him to switch his livelihood.

Kumar now earns anywhere between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000 per day. He said he used to earn Rs 600-700 a day by driving e-rickshaw. 

Kumar, however, also plans to use his free time to service air-conditioners in housing societies as the Delhi government has allowed electricians and plumbers to resume work.


Also read: Vendors or buyers, no one can afford social distancing at Delhi’s wholesale vegetable markets


‘Police advised me to sell veggies’

Kapil Singh, owner of a parantha joint in Sangam Vihar area of south Delhi, has also resorted to selling fruits and vegetables after the lockdown was extended beyond 14 April.

“I had employed two other people to help me run my eatery as I used to sell various other items other than parantha like beverages, cigarettes and processed foods. After the extension of the lockdown in April, I couldn’t pay them any money as all my savings got over and the three of us were left with no income.

“We approached the local police multiple times to seek permission to open my shop, but the staff there advised me to sell vegetables and fruits, instead, to survive for the remaining days as I used to purchase them any way from the mandi,” added Singh.

Singh said he earns around Rs 4,000 per day, which is half the profit of his earlier business, but he said it is enough for three of them.

Disrupted supply chain to hit resumption of work 

Rambeer Kumar, a native of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, who used to earn his livelihood through laundry services in Qutab Institutional Area in south Delhi, has also been selling fruits and vegetables for the past month.

“Due to closure of offices across cities after the lockdown, there has been at least a 70 per cent decrease in the number of my customers because no one now wants to get their clothes washed and ironed. The same customers are, however, now helping me to survive by buying my fruits and vegetables,” he told ThePrint.

Kumar said he now earns Rs 700-800 a day, while earlier he used to earn Rs 1,000 a day.

Shutdown of businesses and dip in customer base, however, aren’t just the only problems plaguing these small business owners. Supply of vital raw materials is another issue confronting them, which, they said, will affect resumption of their businesses even after the lockdown is lifted.

“Ever since the lockdown has been implemented, the local coal market has remained closed. Without coal, it’s impossible to resume normal operations as silk and linen clothes need to be specifically pressed by coal-powered iron. I just have 8-10 days of coal stock with me,” Rambeer Kumar told ThePrint.

Similarly, Rakesh Chaurasia, a paan shop owner in Turkman gate who is also selling fruits for a living, said the supply of betel leaves has completely stopped due to the lockdown. 

“In the ramzaan (month), a large number of people used to come to my shop to have paan after offering their evening prayers and it used to be one of my peak income months apart from festivals in winter. But this year the supply of betel leaves from Bihar and West Bengal has completely stopped after the lockdown,” he added.

“I could have managed to supply paan at least to my regular customers in the evening if the supply of betel leaves would have continued, but now I have to resort to selling fruits, which fetches me a decent income,” added Chaurasia.


Also read: Coronavirus pandemic is ominous news for India’s rabi crops and farm-to-food chain


 

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1 COMMENT

  1. How is it less profitable based on earnings of this given case. Please relate or distinguish between facts and opinion

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