GUWAHATI: The shops without keepers in parts of Northeast are doing a great service in maintaining social distancing in these difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic, acknowledged Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga.
Travelers driving along highways in parts of Mizoram and Manipur would find unmanned sheds by the highways. There are no keepers in sight but the shops are well-stocked with agricultural products and inviting.
There is no bargaining or hassles for a change. Choose the greenest French beans, the sweetest pumpkin, the freshest eggplant or the most fragrant greens, all you have to do is put the money in a box according to price tags displayed on the items. Some shops may have a jar of water, kept to enable commuters to quench their thirst.
The shops are run purely on trust. They are known as “nghah lou dawr” in Mizoram where they had first sprouted. In due course, they had come up in the hill district of Ukhrul in Manipur.
Zoramthanga said trust vis-a-vis the unmanned shops came in handy during these difficult times of COVID-19.
“The year is 2020; #Honesty #Hospitality #Trust comes handy again for #Mizoram during these trying times of #COVID19 outbreak. Traditional Nghah-loh-dawr (shops without shopkeepers) comes handy for many sellers & buyers in maintaining safe social distancing,” he tweeted.
In one photo that he shared on the social media platform, vegetables are seen nicely stacked at a shop. In another, people are seen buying foodstuffs. At both places, the shops were left unattended.
The owner of one such shop in Ukhrul said: “I maintain records of all that I keep at my shop. Sometimes, I find the amount dropped in the box is more than the prices of vegetables taken away by travelers. People give some extra money out of love”.
In the land-locked states of Northeast, many farmers cannot afford to take their produce to markets in towns due to the high cost of transport. The shops in question have partly solved their problem.