Tent House Owners, Workers in Dire Straits Due to Lockdown Impact in Assam

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The tent house business in Assam is in dire straits, courtesy the corona-induced lockdown in the State.

The collapse of tent house business doesn't end in the owners of such houses going broke. If fact, this business going red has much to do with the bread and butter of a number of others like drivers, cooks, helpers, tent house workers, caterers, carpenters, electricians, operators of music systems, and others.

Talking to The Sentinel Dispur Tent House Byobosayee Santha's secretary Ritul Malakar said, "The lockdown has made our business totally collapsed since March this year. Generally we do have bookings round the year for various events. However, we did not get a single event since March this year. The peak season for us starts in September from the Vishwakarma Puja. However, we can't hope any business from the coming September.

"Guwahati has around 350-450 tent houses. Each tent has 3-5 permanent workers and 15-20 temporary ones. During this lockdown 18-25 families roped in with us have been badly affected.

"The loss for tent house owners is manifold. We take on rent a shop, besides two or three godowns. The rental has to be paid even as there is no business. Tent house implements like cloths, tarpaulin, bamboo, wooden planks, ropes and ribbons, electric wire etc are on the verge of being damaged. Even if the business resumes in future, we'll have to reinvest huge amounts to revive our profession.

"We rue the fact that governments have announced a number of schemes, including the Prime Minister's Economic Package, to help out various professionals, but we have not been included in any of the packages. Since we've full-time investment in this business, it's quite difficult for us to shift to other businesses. In such a situation, we've no way out but to seek some kind of support from the government."

Binoy Kumar Sarma, the owner of Luit Tent House, Chandmari said, "This business runs on bank loans. Since there has been total collapse of the business, we're in dire straits – we've to repay bank loans and rentals as well. The peak business for us is from September to April. However, we've already missed the last April. We don't see any bright days for us from this September as well since the pandemic is not relenting. We've gone broke. Shouldn't the government bail us out from such a situation through a policy? Doesn't the government have any such policy?"

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