Impact of pandemic and lockdown on Rajasthan's economy: In Dausa's Balaheri village, 120 Kms from Jaipur, a community of around 50 families that specialize in making brassware are struggling to make ends meet. Reporting with @shivangi441 for @newslaundry & @nlhindi
Covid has killed one person in this village and the lockdown has hit hard. With most of the artisans dependent on middlemen who pay them on the basis of no. of pieces, monthly income of Rs 20k-25k has come to a nought.
For Radha Govind Thathera who used to supply brassware to cities like Jaipur, Agra, Delhi and Mumbai, there are hardly any orders these days. 'Ever since the lockdown, orders have been reduced to just 10%', he says.
'It is tough running a household since the last two years. We have taken loans. My daughter is pursuing B.Ed and we can't afford her fees', says Laxmi, wife of Radha Govind Thathera. The family has mortgaged jewelry to meet daily expenses.
All is not well with Dausa's Khadi industry as well that employs around 2,000 families directly and indirectly. Due to slump in sales, local office of Khadi India is not sure how long they will be able to sustain like this.
Anil Kumar Sharma, secretary of Kshetriya Khadi Gramudyog Samiti, wrote two letters to CM Ashok Gehlot between Jan-Apr 2021. He requested state govt to reimburse amount due as part of rebate given to customers last year on occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Another letter was sent by Sharma, on behalf of Khadi India, to Union minister of MSME, Nitin Gadkari, urging immediate intervention from the Centre. There was no response to any of the letters.
Resentment is evident among businessmen in Dausa's Naya Katla area. 'We were expecting that govt might extend date for filing GST returns. As a retailer I'm incurring losses of Rs 1L/day & govt is charging fine at Rs 100/day for delay in filing GST returns', says Naman Khandelwal
Ashok Kumar Gupta started a shoe store in Naya Katla on 18 April; a day later lockdown was announced. He couldn't return his stock worth Rs 25 lakhs and will have now to wait until Diwali to pay off the loans. #COVID19 #LockDown
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