MillenniumPost
Delhi

Small-time fruit, vegetable vendors of Ggn count losses due to demonetisation

A month after the announcement of legally scrapping the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, fruit and vegetable mandis in Gurugram continue to face the brunt of falling prices and depleted sales.

Even more badly affected  are the small-time vegetable vendors especially those located in urban villages. 

These small-time vendors are the main source from where labourers, maids and construction workers purchase fruits and vegetables. The vendors say that with extremely low sales and increasing perishability of their products, they are counting huge losses. 

The vegetable vendors highlighted that even after a month there has been no improvement in the situation and their earnings have drastically fallen. 

Hailing mainly from neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal, some of the vegetable vendors also highlighted that though they possessed a bank account in their native state they did not have any means to collect or withdraw in this city.

In mentioning that it now takes minimum three days to finish the stock, Santosh Das who hails from Midnapore, Bengal, and has a stall in Chakkarpur village said: “My earnings have reduced post demonetisation. Earlier, on a good day, I used to have a sale of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 but now it has reduced to Rs 700 to Rs 800. Demonetisation has hit the poor very hard. Since they have shortage of cash, they are compromising in their diets by buying less stock.” 

When asked about doing transactions digitally, Das said: “I am open to the idea of doing the transactions digitally but I am not fully aware of the processes. I don’t think even my customers are. Further, there are a lot of internet and call-related problems which I face in my network.”  

Citing that his stock of onions have rotten due to lack of sales, Mohan, another vendor from Allahabad, says: “Most of my stocks have already rotten. As it is, I am selling the stock of onions at a much lower price, and now, it will be even lower. I will run at a loss but some income is better than nothing.”
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