KOCHI: Shakeel PM, who along with his brother Siraj, runs a shop in Kochi’s Broadway Street, has seen his business plummet since the outbreak of the pandemic.
His shop, which sells school bags, raincoats for kids, tiffin boxes, umbrellas and other school stationery items, has been among the thousands of small shopkeepers whose livelihood is hit by the lockdown. “Where’s the business for us when the schools are shut?” he asks.
“Guarding against Covid is important but not at the cost of shutting down our livelihoods. There’s no one to hear our miseries,” said the 27-year-old.
At Ernakulam Jew Street, Roy K P’s shop faces a similar crisis. The shop, which sells gift articles and statues, too has no business at all.
“The items we sell are mostly for the occasions like house warming but as one could imagine there are no such functions or events where gift articles are given due to the Covid situation,” he said.
After laying off three of his employees, the shop is now managed by his wife and son, to cut costs. Roy, who is also the president of Ernakulam General Merchants Association, has added items like sanitisers, handwash, facemasks and other Covid-protective gears to survive this business meltdown.
According to him, at least 10-15 per cent of the shops in the heart of Kochi, including MG Road and Broadway, have shut permanently.
“In our estimate, at least 100 shops have closed down. Given that these shops have had 4-5 employees, we are talking about at least 500 people losing their jobs in the past one year or so,” said Roy.
Though there are no official figures, industry bodies reckon lakhs of people employed in small shops have lost their jobs in this pandemic while hundreds of small shop owners are on the verge of bankruptcy due to the mounting loans, which they are not in a position to repay.
Trade bodies also complain about the grossly inadequate response by both the Central and the state governments as the draconian and prolonged lockdown has dealt a huge blow to this segment.
“The lockdown has become the final nail in the coffin of the small traders. The decline began from the days of demonetisation, which was followed by the two consecutive years of flood in the state. The pandemic has sort of dealt the final blow. We have been pleading with the government for a helping hand, but so far no one has come to our rescue,” said Binny Emmatty of Kerala State Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithi.
According to him, in Thrissur’s Swaraj Round alone a large number of shops have closed down permanently.
“While financial packages are being announced by the government for other sectors, the traders and small shops segment are left to fend for themselves, though we employ lakhs of people in the state,” said Emmatty.
To be fair to the state government, it has been trying its best to soften the lockdown blow on the small shops and trading community. For instance, the state government last month allowed the local bodies to waive off rent for commercial establishments located in buildings owned by them or by various development authorities which could not function due to the lockdown.
“But, that’s only for government-owned shops. About 90 per cent of shops function from private complexes,” said Ernakulam Merchant Association’s Roy.
With no help coming, it’s only a matter of time when the small shops and trading segment explode, burdening the banking sector with a huge pile of bad debts.
“We can’t live with kits alone. What we need is an immediate intervention by the government to avoid a big calamity,” said Emmatty.
State Finance Minister N Balagopal, in a letter to Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman, has asked the Centre to put in place a moratorium on repayment of loans till December 31 in order to provide relief to individuals in the unorganised sector, MSMEs, agriculture and others adversely affected by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.
Lakhs rendered jobless
Though there are no official figures, industry bodies estimate lakhs of people employed in small shops have lost their jobs due to the pandemic while hundreds of small shop owners are on the verge of bankruptcy due to mounting loans, which they are not in a position to repay.