Angul: The struggle for earning bread and butter amid the ongoing lockdown has forced many people to give up their occupation and go for something else to sustain their livelihood.
A point in case being Pradeep Sahoo from Kantabania area in Dhenkanal district.
Pradeep owns a bicycle repairing shop at Kantabania market that lies closed amid lockdown. As the sole earning member of his family, he had to consider other occupations to keep the family going. He has opened a vegetable shop as a stop-gap arrangement to make ends meet.
“I used to make about Rs 500 per day from my bicycle repairing shop. Now, I earn barely Rs 200 per day from the vegetable business. However, something is better than nothing. I can’t afford to sit idle with pending bills staring at me, says Pradeep.
Pradeep is not alone in this dilemma. Quite like him, Panchanan Patra — a resident from Giranga area in Angul district — has also become a vegetable vendor after his fast-food stall in Kantabania market was shut down.
“I used to make a decent earning from my fast food store. However, that lies closed owing to COVID restrictions. I have started selling fruits on a cart to be able to sustain a living,” says Patra.
With most businesses and shops lying closed apart from essential commodities, the story is more or less the same for hundreds of other shop owners who have been forced to look at alternatives.
PNN