Coronavirus impact: Lack of workers forces owners to keep shops shut

As lakhs of migrants have gone back to their hometowns shopkeepers have started to feel the manpower crunch Many shops and small industries in the orange and green zones which were allowed to open with certain restrictions have been unable to do so due to the unavailability of workers Even some small grocery markets have been forced to be shut due to thisOwners of shops and industries etc say that this is causing them to lose lakhs of rupeesAshok Patel the owner of King Plaza a super market in Cuffe Parade had to shut it down two days ago as at least 35 workers here have gone back to their home towns Patel said Their families are scared and were calling them back I am losing lakhs of rupees I still have to pay society maintenance and light bills I cant run the market with one or two people because they wont be able to handle it The government didnt plan anything properly before announcing the lockdownIndias gems and jewellery hub Zaveri Bazaar is allegedly losing 200 crore every day The owners of shops here say all their labourers have gone to be with their families due to the COVID19 scare The gold market is totally shut since the lockdown was announced and we are losing 200 crore per day Even if we are allowed to run with certain restrictions we dont have workers The shops are to open today for cleaning and sanitisation but we dont have anyone for that also said Kumar Jain Shri Mumbai Jeweller Association presidentGovt must pay attentionIn Panvel as the per the guidelines by Panvel Municipal Corporation various nonessentials shops are allowed to be open on specific days On Thursday the readymade garment shops were open and customers were pouring in mainly for Eid shopping but shopkeepers did not have enough staff to handle the rush There were 20 workers at my shop but now there are only two as all have gone to their native places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Now we are taking few customers and shutting down in the evening as we have to maintain social distancing norms The government needs to pay immediate attention to us otherwise we will head towards a serious crisis said Beheulal Prajapati a readymade garments shop owner in PanvelShops closed in Dharavi during the lockdown PicShadab KhanMost of the shop owners feel the government should do something for them Mukesh Navadhare owner of a readymade garments showroom told midday If customers start coming in large numbers in the month of May we might earn 35 per cent of what we earn in the entire financial year Now they are not coming as they are facing salary cuts The workers who have gone back are not willing to come back soon If the government doesnt do something smalltime businesses will shut due to unavailability of workersNikhil Nambiar a Human Resource Consultant said As declared by CM the state is expected to resume work from June 1 onwards Large scale companies completely dependent on workers for production will face a major issue Roughly 100 million migrant workers are directly responsible for 10 of the GDP Why are they still being under paid or not visible to the industry At least 80 of the factories are dependent on these migrants labourKunal Nandu director Vinay Electrical Solutions Pvt Ltd said having a smooth production line of work and a profitable income will definitely take minimum of 67 months While Mithun Sheth CEO and CoFounder AMA Design Solutions Pvt Ltd said later both skilled and unskilled labour could have a surge in their wages as they will be in high demandWorkers might be backRohit Wadmare cofounder Ro Enterprises said 85 of his employees are from other states All of them requested they be allowed to go to their home towns He said The industry will resume and they might come back if the scenario is safe for them Every business will face problems to get back on trackSubarna Devendra fashion designer and founder SD Couture said sales in the fashion industry too are on hold Most of my workers said they will be back post Diwali as there is no season of fashion happening We are dependent on the tailors and karigars for the garment and since they are unavailable everything is on hold he saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news