Kolkata, Apr 19 () For two weeks, Mohammad Irfanwent to bed on a half-empty stomach, making sure his childrenget three square meals a day, but with the extension of thelockdown, the rickshaw-puller in the city's Paikpara area knewit was time to look for an alternative source of income.
Irfan, these days, wakes up at 4 am and rushes towholesalers' hub - Mechhua Bazar - to procure vegetables andfruits, which he then sells in his neighbourhood.
Much like Irfan, taxi drivers, small shopkeepers, teastall owners and other vendors in the city, who mostly tradein non-essential items, have taken to selling vegetables,fruits and fish, with the COVID-19-induced lockdown havingdried up much of their resources.
West Bengal Consumer Affairs Minister Sadhan Pandey,when asked about this trend, said if the traders abide by thenorms, the government sees no reason to stop them."They can surely opt for an alternative source ofincome in this hour ofcrisis... Just that they should dobusiness between 8 am and 4 pm," he said.
Nirmal Kumar, a shoe shop owner-turned-fish seller inBehala, expressed hope that he would be able to send money tohis ailing parents in Burdwan this month, as his new trade waspicking up pace in Manton area."I couldn't send money home last month as I had usedup half of my savings to buy a cycle van. Now, I visitChowbaga fish market every morning and buy some staplevarieties for sale in Manton. Many residents place orders onphone, and I deliver them to their doorsteps," he said.The story is no different for Ratan Halder, the ownerof a fast food stall in Baguiati area, who has started sellingvegetables from his kiosk.The 45-year-old, who pooled in money from relatives toset his alternative trade rolling, cycles 30 km up and down tobuy fresh produce from Polerhat in South 24 Parganas district.
"I had recently spent Rs 3,500 to buy raw materialsfor myfast food stall. It has all gone waste... Not once didI foresee this month-and-a-half-long lockdown," Halder said.
A senior official of a retailers' body said morevegetable vendors would mean more options, and people nolonger have to stand in queues."I must say that's a good move. If retailers areturning into vegetable sellers in this scenario, that would beof help to them as well as the customers. People will nolonger crowd just one store and the practice would keep pricesof commodities in check," said Kumar Rajagopalan, the CEO ofRetailers Association of India."Also, if some of these vendors are moving from onelane to another to sell essentials in mobile vans, residentswould no longer have to step out of homes to visit the nearbymarket," he said.A vegetable trader in one of the city's biggestwholesale marts -- Koley Market -- said at least 40 per centof retailers who visit the market every day are fresh faces.
"Most retailers throng the wholesale market between 3am and 8 am. Many of them are rickshaw-pullers and taxidrivers, who have taken to vegetable selling onlyrecently.With businesses shut for a month now, this seems tobe their only plausible option," he said.Economist Asish Sana noted that the situation may getmore challenging in the near future, and many might end uplosing permanent sources of income.
"New challenges, however, will teach people to lookfor new means of livelihood. People will have to adapt to thechanging circumstances," he added. RMS SUSRBT RBT