Roadside vendors pushed to the brink

“Me and my wife used to make and sell golgappas on roadside. This was our only source of income of income. I have two daughters who study in classes X and XI. Now I have no money even to recharge my phone so that my daughters can take online classes”. Kamal Kumar. A vendor

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 22

Roadside vendors in Himachal Pradesh are on brink due to the two-month lockdown. With no income during the period and no aid from any quarters the vendors are finding it difficult even to fulfill basic needs of their families.

Kamal Kumar used to run a golgappas vend in Ranital on the Kangra-Una national highway. While talking to The Tribune an upset Kamal said that he had not made any income for the past two months. “Me and my wife used to make and sell golgappas on roadside. This was our only source of income of income. I have two daughters who study in classes X and XI. Now I have no money even to recharge my phone so that my daughters can take online classes”, he said.

“I have just 10 marla land on which my house is located. I do not have any land on which I can do agriculture. I do not know what will happen and how I would be able to restart my work”, said Kamal.

Arun Kumar, who also used to sell snacks on the roadside, said that he had failed to generate any income for the past two months since lockdown and his financial reserves are depleting fast. When prodded, he was terse, saying: “These government officials are sitting home and getting their salaries. They do not want the lockdown to open as they are enjoying sitting at home,” he said. Arun was worried and wondered if he could ever start his vend again.

There are thousands of vendors in Himachal who run small businesses on the roadside catering to tourists. These people were self employed in their own ways. Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati, when asked, said that he had appraised the government of the financial stress being faced by street and roadside vendors.

However, if any government fails to come forth with any financial aid these vendors would be pushed further into poverty.