Trade Fair 2018: Exhibitors rue lack of space and basic facilities
Space constraints and lack of basic facilities have left traders and exhibitors at the annual India International Trade Fair (IITF) disappointed as the venue undergo a makeover but some customers are happy they don’t have to walk around much. Be it food stalls or state/international pavilions, everything at the fair has shrunk this time due to the implementation of the IECC (Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Center) project at Pragati Maidan.
The traders are also struggling to avail proper water and food facilities.
Chhattisgarh-based Kanhaiya Lal Dewangan, who is selling handloom saris, is having to adjust his stall every now and then to make room for the visitors. “Earlier I used to get a large stall but this time due to the ongoing construction work, I had to settle with a smaller one. I’m not even able to unfold the saris and display them to customers properly. It gets difficult to handle even one customer at a time now,” said Dewangan.
Like Dewangan, there were several other exhibitors who expressed the same concern and felt that IITF 2018 was one of the most disorganised fairs.
Known for setting up Lucknow’s famous Chikankari kurta stall, UK Mishra slammed the organisers. “We can manage in this little space but how can we live without water? There are hardly one or two water filters in the whole hall. Just imagine, 800 stalls and only one or two water filters,” he said and added, “And to get entry, every day we have to buy a ticket. We did not even get an entry card. We have just one entry card and we are two people who manage this stall. My brother has to buy a ticket of ₹ 500 every day. Organisers should look after this and provide concessions to the exhibitors.”
Addressing the furious exhibitors’ complaints, Hema Maity, general manager at the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), said, “I agree there is a lack of water facilities. Many water pipelines are blocked due to construction work but we have arranged water ATMs and water tanks everywhere with a charge of just ₹ 2 per glass and ₹ 5 for bottles.”