BHOPAL: Whether it is grocers or jewellery showrooms; cloth stores or supermarkets – all are conscious of the need to protect themselves, and their customers, from the coronavirus. The owners and managers of outlets Free Press visited found them to be following safety norms. Excerpts of what they said:
We follow norms
We are following all corona-related protection norms. We have kept a sanitiser bottle at the entrance and the customers have to undergo thermal screening. We don’t allow anyone enter the store without masks. Many customers keep them in their pockets instead of wearing them and we have to ask them to cover their faces before entering.
- Ajay Barha, manager, Priyadarshni Super Bazar
No entry sans masks
We have put up a notice outside the store that there would be no entry for customers sans masks. The notice also says that the shoppers should complete their work within five to seven minutes and only one member of a family should enter the store. We do not offer masks to those who come without them because then it will become a habit with the customers.
- Ved Agrawal, owner, Bajrang Super Bazar
Take appointment
All our staffers wear masks and the guard standing outside sanitises hands of the visitors at the entrance. If someone is not wearing a mask, we ask to wear one. And in case, they are not having a mask, we provide them one without any charge. Till some time back, we even used to provide hand gloves to visitors. To reduce crowd, we also request our customers to seek appointment through our website. Then, we allot them different time slots.
- Manish Bhawsar, manager (sales), Ratna House
Not many customers
Mask is mandatory for entering our outlet. We also keep a stock of masks to provide to those who don’t have it. One of our staffers sanitises the hands of the customers before entering. As for social distancing, we don’t need to do much about it as in any case, we don’t get many customers. Business is considerably down.
- Sonam, manager, Kadamini Sari
No mask, no entry
There is no entry without masks in our shop. We also keep spare masks and provide them to the customers who need it but on payment. We sell them from Rs 30 a piece. Modi ji hasn’t provided us with money to distribute free masks. We sanitise the hands of the customers on entry and also before they make payment.
- Mohit Pashine, manager, Mom&Me
Maintain distance
Masks are a very effective means of blocking transmission of the disease. Everyone should wear a mask at public places and one should not go close to a person who is mask-less. Also, maintaining a distance of at least 5 feet is also necessary.
-Dr AK Shrivastava, Medical Superintendent, Hamidia Hospital
Corona is still there
Coronavirus is still there. This is the festive season and if anyone falls ill, it will ruin not only his enjoyment but also of his family. So, be cautious, keep distance, wear masks and also persuade others to do the same.
-Manoj Kumar Verma, SDM, Govidnpura
