Numbers don’t tell fair story

NEW DELHI: The trade fair at Pragati Maidan saw enough crowd on Sunday but the demonetisation drive continued to haunt the participating traders even on the last day.
Most of them complained about a major dip in the sale this year. “We put up a stall every year; never before sales went this down. We are accepting cards and cheques. But out of 100 people, only 15-20 are interested in buying.If we were allowed to accept old currencies, things would have been different,” said Rohit Kumar at the IFB outlet.
Saikat, who deals in leather goods, claimed they would have to take at least half of the stock back to Kolkata. “We have been coming here for five years and managed to sell all items every year. But people are bargaining a lot this time as they are low on cash.”
Daksh Arora, who came from Punjab with hosiery products, has recorded only one-tenth of his usual business. “We are accepting cards, but even that’s not helping. People are buying only essential items. This ban has spoiled our business.”
The situation was no different at Hunar Haat, set up for the first time for over 150 artisans from 26 states. “Most of us are managing to sell but we expected a bit more. Not accepting cards is an additional problem,” said Zakhir Khan, an artisan.
The only happy lot is perhaps the food stall owners. Even if people are not buying anything at the fair, they are having food, said Deepak, who put up a stall.
Visitors said the demonetisation had tied their hands. “This year we are visiting only those stalls accepting cards so can’t buy from small traders,” said Kunal Sharma, a businessman from South Extension-I.
Vaishali Singh, a college student, said, “Our group is here but not many are buying. We are here as it has become a ritual to visit the fair every year.”
Sanjay Vashist, spokesperson of IITF 2016, said the fair had recorded a footfall of 14 lakh. “We have encouraged cashless transaction.”
The Kerala pavilion was awarded gold medal while Gujarat won silver under the state and Union territory category; Meghalaya came first in the Northeast states category. In the foreign section, South Korea received gold and Bahrain silver. The Swachh Bharat category saw Bihar as the winner and Assam as the runner-up. Digital India got the best theme pavilion award.