Farmers Movement Archive

This roadside vendor struggles to retain livelihood post relaxations

Jalandhar, June 9The nationwide lockdown has adversely affected roadside vendors, who are struggling hard to make both ends meet. Ramesh (45) says every day, he puts up his canopy on the road opposite the Maqsudan sabzi mandi and displays his stock, which includes portable kids' swimming pools that sell like hot cakes during summers and soft toys, hoping that today he might find a customer and return home with some money.I started this work on May 17 when the district administration gave a green signal to shopkeepers to start their works. Since then, I have sold only two medium-sized pools costing Rs 600 and earned Rs 150 as profit. This Covid-19 outbreak has taken away our livelihood and I do not know when things will be back on track. — Ramesh, vendorHe said every year in summers, he sells these swimming pools and earn a good profit, while the rest of the year he engages himself in selling glass crockery."I have a family of eight. My two sons are also engaged in the same work. I sell items by the roadside, while they go door-to-door in colonies to sell the stock. But these days, they are working with me only as entry to various streets have been blocked by the police,” he said.He said amid the scorching heat, they wait for customers and return home with meagre earnings or most of the time no earnings.“I started this work on May 17 when the administration gave a green signal to shopkeepers to start their works. Since then, I have sold only two medium-sized pools costing Rs 600 and earned Rs 150 as profit. This Covid-19 outbreak has taken away our livelihood and I do not know when things will be back on track,” he said.Recalling the previous summer season, he said after working for almost 12 hours, he used to make a per day sale of Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 and his profit used to be Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200.Now, after working for a similar duration, he is hardly earning a little over Rs 100, which is suffice only for a day's tea and milk expenses.When asked how he managed his lockdown days, Ramesh said NGOs and people from gurdwara were kind enough and gave him dry ration as well as cooked meals many times.“I also once received the ration distributed by the administration but it lasted only for a week and after that none from the administration came to us. Those were tough days but the situation is no better even now. Now, I have to earn to sustain my family but without customers, it has become a cumbersome task,” he added.

The Tribune

2020-06-10