Page 99 - Abhivruddhi

up his tempo with the baskets for sale from 7am and shares photos of
the “vegetables of the day” on a WhatsApp group of his customers he
created during the pandemic. By 11am a majority of his stock is sold and
he delivers the orders placed on WhatsApp by 1pm when he closes shop
for the day. Like Ram, there is a rise in the roadside vendors who sell
momos, bhel, wada pav and other snacks which are set up in the evening
on busy streets in Pune city and they sell their stocks in a couple of hours.
Such small vendors turn the capital around once in 1-5 days and
typically earn a 30-40% profit margin. However, their businesses are hit
heavily when their families require unplanned finances in their day-to-
day lives.
2.1.2 Family Needs supersede Business
A. Fees over Business Finance
Reshma is a Self Help Group member who runs a small home-based
tailoring business in Bhopal and charges Rs. 100-200 for stitching a salwar-
kameez suit, typically gets 2-3 orders per day. In her community, however,
every household has a tailor which provides a stiff competition and does
not allow to increase her charges. Her husband works as a casual labour
and earns about Rs. 2500-3000 per month. Their children require tuitions
after school as both Reshma and her husband with their education till the
middle school are unable to help them in their after-school studies. They,
therefore, send their children to tuition classes which is another financial
drain. This situation worsened during the pandemic as Reshma received
hardly any stitching orders and led to a drastic drop in her income. She
was forced to take a loan from external money lenders for tuition fees so
as to continue the education of her children. Like Reshma’s requirement
of tuition fees, there are also other small vendors desirous of sending their
children to good schools that charge high fees. Education of children
often drains finances from the running capital of their businesses.
B. Healthcare over Business Finance
In the informal discussions during the visits to the local communities,
it was found that unorganised workers did not have any health benefits
nor did they avail of any health insurance schemes. During a medical
emergency they preferred to get private medical care or use a private
hospital to avoid travelling long distances or wait in long queues at the
government health care centres. Often, they sought loans from local
money lenders at exorbitant rates of 5-10% per month or 2% per month
leading them to debt-traps.
Rashida ran a successful tailoring business in Yerwada, Pune. She has

99