Shoemakers to Sweet Shops, Agra’s Small Businesses Struggle To Survive COVID

Video Producer: Varsha Rani

Video Editor: Mohd. Irshad Alam

Agra, famously known as the 'Taj City' because of its 17th century monument, generates most of its revenues through tourism. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry was badly hit as heritage sites remained closed.

This affected the lives of lakhs of people in the city, mainly those working in the industries linked to the tourism sector.

The beauty of the Taj has always attracted tourists from all over the world. Most of the cultural art and traditional work here is dependent on the flow of tourists.

As Uttar Pradesh goes for elections from 10 February, I spoke to the locals in the city about the problems they had to face during the COVID-19 pandemic and if any help is being provided to them by the government.

I met Rookaram, a shoemaker, and a resident of Agra who told me about the dificulties he and his family had face as they lost their jobs due to the COVID-enforced lockdown.

"We’ve been in a lot of trouble because we lost our jobs. With no job or any work to do, it became very difficult for us to sustain our family and our livelihood. We did not get any kind of scheme or compensation for the financial loss. When it comes to asking for votes, they are always here but otherwise, they don't listen."

Rookaram, shoemaker

Another shoemaker, Geeta Devi told me that they were forced to take up other jobs to make ends meet.

"We didn't even get ration from the government. The lockdown was very difficult for us. My son had to sell vegetables to run our family," said Geeta.

Naveen Agarwal, a sweet shop owner in the city, shared the difficulties he had to face due to the lockdowns as it made them financially weak.

"Our earnings stopped and we had to sit at home and our expenditure increased due to that. Tourists have stopped coming and most of our work is dependent on them. Due to tourists not visiting the city, our work has decreased to 35% now."

Naveen Agarwal, Sweet shop owner

He further told me about the raw materials rotting and going to waste as they couldn't come to their shops and make pethas (sweets made from white pumpkin).

"Due to this, once the lockdown was lifted and we all came back to work, the prices of the raw materials had increased four times," he added.

Government Schemes Are of No Help

Upon asking if any help or schemes were provided to them, Naveen said that many announcements were made but nothing happened on the ground.

When we share our problems or complain to local politicians, they take those problems to the MLAs but nothing happens after that.

Naveen Agarwal, Sweet shop owner

This often makes it very difficult for them to ask for help as no action is being taken by the authorities.

"Some of the schemes introduced by the government were totally against us. This has resulted in petha makers migrating from here (Agra). There was a time when 300-350 small factories used to exist, and today only around 100-125 are left."

Naveen Agarwal, Sweet shop owner

I met Imran, a tour guide, who shared with me how fewer number of tourists are now coming to the city, which has affected his livelihood as they get paid according to their work which depends on the number of tourists.

"We can do 1-2 assignments a day. If we are not going to earn, how are we going to pay for ourselves? This has become financially taxing for us. Due to COVID-19, there has been a huge decrease in the number of tourists. For instance, instead of 100 tourists visiting Agra earlier, we hardly have 2-3 now."

Imran, Tourist guide

Imran further said that the government schemes are no help to them.

"There is one scheme that I heard of was that the tourist guides who come under the Ministry of Tourism would be given a loan of Rs 1 lakh by the government. So it means that we have to earn and repay that, but what we want is compensation. If we were earning during the pandemic, why would we need a loan then?"

Imran, Tourist guide

The decline in the number of tourists visiting Agra has affected small business owners across sectors.

From shoe and petha makers to dhaba and hotel owners, they all are waiting with the hope that the situation would get better with time, and the government would step in to help them.

(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. Though The Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)