Items flew off the shelves after PM address: Grocer
As an entire country locks itself indoors to beat the spread of Covid-19, one man has been working tirelessly — for sometimes as long as 13 hours a day — for the past two weeks.
Sajjan Agarwal, a 50-year-old grocery store owner in east Delhi’s Vasundhara Enclave, says he has never seen such panic buying before. “At our store, the madness begun on March 22 when the Delhi government announced a lockdown. I did double my normal sales that night. The customers said that since the restaurants were also shut, they needed more supply. But the situation went out of control after the 21-day lockdown was announced on March 24,” he said.
“That night, I sold thrice of what I usually do. People were buying as if they will never get a chance again. By the weekend, my stock was completely out,” he said. On Monday, he had a poster on his shop that read: “please do not buy extra”. “The situation has calmed down now. The number of customers we are receiving is fewer than what we used to get before. People seem to have stocked enough for the next few weeks,” he said.
Agarwal, who lives in a joint family in New Kondli — barely a kilometre from his shop — opens his Ravi General Store daily at 9am. Immediately after, he instructs his staff to tie a rope around the shop to ensure social distance with customers. He has distributed masks and hand gloves to his employees and has also kept a bottle of hand sanitiser on the counter for them to use.
“I have stopped home delivery. We normally have 10 boys working at the store for home delivery but now only four are reporting to work. We only deliver for the elderly now, that too only till the main gate of the residential societies. I am responsible for their safety as well. We also maintain distance from each other at work. Half of my day goes in telling customers to maintain a social distance and stand in the circles that we have drawn outside,” he said.
Around 2:30 pm, some disgruntled customers were spotted returning from Agarwal’s store. “We have to send back many customers daily because we are out of many items, including ready to eat items, flour and packed foods like biscuits and chips. It’s disheartening to say no, but we are having trouble in getting supplies. The distributors are not being able to transport goods as per our requirement. They do not have enough staff,” he said.
While his employees wrap up by 9pm and leave for home, Agarwal stays back for another half an hour to serve a few customers. By 9:45pm he is home. “I wash my hands before entering the house and take a shower immediately. I interact with hundreds of people every day. I have to take a lot of precautions to keep my family safe. I have my old mother at home,” he said.
When asked if he does not feel like staying at home like others , he said, “It’s a privilege to be there for people. If we stop working what will they eat? I will continue working no matter what. The doors of my store will remain open for all,” he said.