Joblessness pushes many youths to sell fruits, veggies

Ajay Joshi

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 16

Ravi Kumar, a resident of Ravidas Nagar, used to run a confectionery shop before the lockdown. From daily sales, he would earn enough to fulfill the needs of his family comprising four children and wife.

However, when the curfew was imposed, his business came to a standstill. To eke out a living, he had switch to other trade and became a vegetable vendor.

Ravi is not only one who has been hit hard by the Covid-induced lockdown. Like him, there are many other traders and youths who lost their source of livelihood and had to take up odd jobs for survival and the sale of vegetables became the most sought-after source of earning.

“After the lockdown, I could not decide what to do. I realised sooner or later I’ll be out of savings. Initially, I decided to sell sweets in my locality, but it didn’t work out as people were more interested in purchasing essential commodities. Later, one of my friends suggested me to sell vegetables. He helped me in buying a three-wheeler cart. I now go door to door and sell vegetables,” said Ravi.

In the last over two months, there has been a surge in the number of vendors selling vegetables and fruits as essential items don’t fall under the restrictions. Sukhdeep Singh from the Mandi Market Committee, Maqsudan sabzi mandi, said they had issued nearly 3,000 passes to vendors during the lockdown.

Most of them who turned vegetable vendors included salesmen, marketing agents, daily wagers, auto-rickshaw drivers, transporters, fast food vendors and security guards. Karam Singh (29), a resident of Kabir Nagar, who used to work as a salesman at a private garment shop, said, initially, they thought it would be a matter of a few days, but it kept on extending.