The fear of a sudden lockdown because of the ongoing surge in Covid cases and loss of business and employment as a consequence weighed heavily on voters across the trading hubs of Calcutta as they cast their vote on Thursday.
Many were apprehensive of a lockdown immediately after the declaration of the election results “to make up for the mismanagement” of Covid-19 across the country.
Traders after traders in Burrabazar said how a sudden lockdown, like the one imposed in March 2020, could land their already troubled business in greater jeopardy.
There were some whose business had been reduced to a third of what it had been and their concerns about unrealised dues and wasted stocks were widespread.
These traders were not the only ones worried about a complete shutdown to contain the disease. Younger Calcuttans were scared, too.
Pramod Chirania, 50, had gone to cast his vote at a polling booth on Shivtalla Street in Burrabazar. He said his biggest worry was not who would come to power but the possibility of a sudden lockdown. Chirania deals in iron spares.
Pramod Chirania in Burrabazar
“My business is a third of what it used to be. I am yet to offset the losses incurred last year because of the lockdown. Now, if a fresh lockdown is imposed, it would leave us in a greater mess,” he said.
Kaushik Jhawar, who cast his vote at a booth off Kalakar Street in Burrabazar, looks after his family’s wholesale business in blankets. He said the fear of a sudden lockdown had him extremely worried.
Kaushik Jhawar outside a polling booth in Burrabazar
“This time last year, the lockdown was barely a month old. It came as a bolt from the blue and by the time the curbs were relaxed in phases, our business had taken a massive hit,” said the 25-year-old.
The fear of a sudden lockdown stems from the fact that the health infrastructure has collapsed across the country. Many fear a desperate central government could impose a second lockdown to contain the spread of the virus, even if it amounted to putting “common people” in financial distress.
Jhawar said how a planned lockdown “at least allows us to adjust pending payments and regulate procurement”.
“A sudden lockdown will not allow this and that will be a double blow because we have yet to recover from last year’s lockdown-induced losses,” said Jhawar.
If traders from Burrabazar are losing their sleep over fears of loss of business, many young Calcuttans have their heart in their mouth because a sudden lockdown might make them jobless for a second time in less than a year.
Sudipto Dey, 30, a voter in the Chowringhee Assembly constituency, used to work at a tea manufacturing company in Dalhousie. He was among the five who lost their jobs months after the lockdown was announced in March last year.
“I somehow secured a job four months later. Now there is a possibility of a second lockdown because the Union government has messed up the Covid-19 situation. I am fearing yet another job loss if a second lockdown is indeed announced,” said Dey, a resident of Biswanath Matilal Lane in Bowbazar.
He was accompanied by his niece Pallabi Dey and her mother Rumki.
Rumki, 40, who works in the telemarketing section of a publishing house, said she too feared for her job if a second lockdown was imposed.
Amit Ghosh in Chowringhee
At Calcutta Girls’ School, in the Chowringhee constituency, Amit Ghosh turned up to vote wearing a black T-shirt that had the words “Paisa Nei (Don’t have money)” written on it.
Metro asked the 43-year-old, who looks after a mobile accessory company’s sales in eastern India, whether the words on his T-shirt reflected his thought.
He said: “The words encapsulate the mess that we all are in. I had suffered a 60 per cent cut on my CTC (cost to company) because of the lockdown last year. Now, if a fresh lockdown has to be imposed as a result of the mishandling of the Covid-19 situation by the Union government, I am sure I will lose my job. If the company could not sell its products, it would not earn revenue and would lay us off,” said Ghosh.
“I just shudder to think what lies ahead. This government had a year’s time to prepare the infrastructure, but did nothing and invited the crisis.”
The fear of a lockdown and the resultant impact troubled Samiran Ghosh, who cast his vote at Calcutta Deaf and Dumb School in Rajabazar, in the Beleghata constituency.
He used to work at a private company but lost his job during the lockdown.
Ghosh, who used to get a salary of Rs 10,000 as an accountant’s assistant, now delivers medicines from wholesale shops in Bagree Market to retail outlets.
“I had exhausted my savings. I searched desperately for a back-office job in the city but found none…. We are suffering because of our government,” said Ghosh, who stays near Machhua with his wife and parents.
Pictures by Pradip Sanyal, Bishwarup Dutta and Sanat Kr Sinha