| Govt yet to take call on future of eateries, vending stalls closed since lockdown | | People running dhabas, food joints on brink of starvation, facing uncertain future | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, June 15: The Union Territory administration has yet to take a call on the future of dhabas, eateries, vending stalls functional in various nooks and corners of various districts and had closed their operations since lockdown.
Thousands of people engaged as workers in these small business holdings as well as the owners are at the verge of starvation as savings have been dried up and there is no source of income for these.
Hundreds of eateries, dhabas, road side vendors, small eating points, food joints could be seen closed in various nooks and corners of the Jammu city, since lockdown and so far government has not taken any decision about their fate. Owners of road side eateries informed Early Times that since the announcement of lockdown in the last week of April 2020, their small business holdings have been closed. “After the decision taken by the government to phase wise opening up of the economy, many shops including sweet shops have also been allowed to restart their operations but so far there is no call from the government on the fate of eateries, dhabas and vending stalls”, an eatery owner said, adding that the owners and the people working on these small business holdings were daily wage-earners and their families totally depend on the routine income but for the last around three months now, they have been facing a starvation like condition.
“There is no other alternative work for us as in the short span of time, how a person can change his/her business and without any income, how he/she can able to survive and will feed his/her family”, an eatery owner said, adding that they have been spending time, after taking loan from their friends or relatives but they have also started refusing to give any loan as their accounts have also dried up.
The eatery as well as dhaba owners further said that if the government could allow the sweet-shop owners to open their shops then why the government has adopted a dual-yardstick for these small business holders. “It is beyond our imagination that if government could allow sweet-shops, medical shops, general stores to restart their operations and long ques are seen at these shops then why the small business holders have been penalized”, the owners said, adding that it seemed that those having their shops were influential enough to exert pressure on the government but not the eatery, dhaba owners or some other vendors, hawkers etc.
They further said that if government was not in a condition to provide them relief then at least, they should be allowed to restart their small businesses, so that they could at least survive and save their families. |
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