BHOPAL: For the past thirty-six years, Tibetan Refugee Sweater Sellers Association, Bhopal has been organising Tibetan woollens fair-cum-sales at different places in the city including Sangam Talkies, New Market and MP Nagar. The fairs begin from November and continue till the end of January.
But the sales have been badly hit this year due to demonetisation as well as weather.
Talking to Free Press Journal, 50-year-old Chhewang, a vendor from Bangalore, who is displaying his ware in MP Nagar says, “Our business is cash-driven so it has been hit hard by demonetisation. We have been coming here for the past 20 years. Before that, my parents used to come. But this year, the situation is worst. Before November 8, our sales were good. In this market, there are 32 stalls,” adding that “We don’t have POS machines because 90 per cent of us don’t know to operate it. We come here for four months after which we do farming. Many of us depend on the income from sale of woollens for running our households. For the past two year we are in loss. We are even unable to pay the college fee of our children. My daughter just completed B.Sc. Nursing but she had to come with me because there is no other option. Also, we have to pay Rs 16,000 including electricity charges to BMC. And every year they increase it by 10 percent.”
“For the past four year market was going downhill due to weather but es baar to humein notebandi ki maar jhelni par rahi hai. People are visiting but not making purchases because they have limited money. It is obvious that they will purchase necessary items first rather that sweaters. Till now, we have been able to sell only 30 per cent of our stocks, ” said 52-year-old Passang, who been participating in the expo for the past 20 years at Tin Shed, New Market.
We have been participating for the past 30 years but this year Notebandi ke karan bahot dikkat ho rahi hai . You can see there is no rush. Business is very poor. November and December are the months in which we make profit. Neither we nor our other shop in city have POS machine because we didn’t know how to use it ” said 60-year-old Chhimi, Bangalore who was waiting for customers at his MP Nagar Stall.
Similarly, 45-year-old woman Tsering who hails from Shimla says, “I have been coming here for the past many years. Our sales are down by 80 per cent due to demonetisation. On many days, we could sell even a single item. We are also facing problem of changes Customer purchase item of Rs 150 and give note of R 200o. They also demands POS machine which we don’t have,” adding that “Even some customers try to give old notes but we strictly do not accept them. And also we have clearly written on board that old notes of Rs 1000 and 500 will not be taken. Out of 46 stalls, only four or five are accepting payments through Paytm.”
