Sale of rakhi dips amid pandemic

Kolkata: Rakhi manufacturers are making losses with a dip in orders in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

"Our business has been hit hard and fast by the rapid escalation of the virus across the country and in the state. We are running business at 90 percent loss. Every year, we used to get bulk order for manufacturing Rakshis from at least 2,000 wholesalers. This year, we have received orders from only 200 wholesalers," said Saifuddin Mollah, a Rakhi manufacturer at Howrah's Mollah

para area.

While Raksha Bandhan, one of India's biggest festivals, will be celebrated on August 3, the tensions between India and China over Line of Actual Control (LAC) dispute have also affected the markets.

"Chinese rakhi raw materials are not available in the market following the standoff India and China. We are

buying Indian raw materials at Rs 2 higher price. That is why the minimum cost of Rakhi that used to cost Rs 6 is now Rs 9," said Sk Firdasul, another Rakhi manufacturer.

Local traders claimed that a huge slump in Rakhi sales was because celebrations will be subdued as people are not opting to go to each other's places to ensure physical distance in the wake of COVID- 19 pandemic.

Every year Sib Kumar Routh, a resident of Bihar, who is working in Kolkata at a private firm goes back to her home during the Rakhi festival. However, this time he cancelled his plan.

"Trains and flights are running due to lockdown. I am not going home. This is for the

first time in my life that my sister on tie Rakhi on my wrist on Rakhi day. However, I have sent Rakhi gift to my sister

via courier."