Delhi's Sadar Bazar shop owners in doldrums
The area was shut for violating Covid norms; 25k labourers not vaccinated
image for illustrative purpose
LIVELIHOOD of small shop owners, labourers in Delhi's Sadar Bazar is once again at stake due to the temporary lockdown in the area over Covid protocol violation. Rui Mandi in Central Delhi's Sadar Bazar, along with 6 other market spaces, was shut down for not following safety
protocols, thus forcing the shop owners to endure revenue losses at the beginning of the 2nd quarter of the current financial year.
Bizz Buzz spoke with Rakesh Kumar Yadav, president, Federation of Sadar Bazar Trades Association (FESTA), on the current localised lockdown and the economic losses being incurred.
"Once the lockdown was lifted, we took all the precautions to adhere to Covid norms. We followed the odd-even rules, sanitised our shops before opening, gave facemask to every customer at every shop. We have had several rounds of meetings with the District Magistrate (DM) and police authorities on the situation and had suggested that the DM may provide us with Civil Defence personnel for patrolling and ensure that the general public and hawkers follow the rules in these times," Yadav said.
In the last week of June, Sadar Bazar was among the three prominent markets in the national capital, which had received notices and warned for overcrowding by the district administration. According to the FESTA president, the market space has over 4,000 shops with a labour force of 25,000 to 30,000 who are yet to be vaccinated.
"100 per cent of our labour force is unvaccinated. One of the biggest challenges of conducting a vaccination drive here is that the labourers do not have any identification card with them.
We told the DM to facilitate vaccination or registration process for such Mazdoors who do not have any ID cards. Maybe their thumb impression can be used (for vaccination) which would reflect their Aadhar number or else register them for Aadhar card itself but it is important to get them vaccinated," Yadav added.
As per the federation, 83 shops at the Sadar Bazar market, one of the largest in the national capital, have been identified under essential services, with each shop having a marshal or guard to ensure strict adherence to safety norms post the second wave of the pandemic. The president of FESTA, however, said that each shop owner cannot hire a guard for similar purposes since the revenue generation and business operations are "down to zero".
