Corruption sparkles for Diwali vendors

Crackers have been prodigal for Diwali; the quintessence makes the festival complete and that will possibly explain why one can spot a stall selling crackers in every lane in the city. But on the flipside, many do not know the scrupulous hardship the stall owners have to undergo only to make some money in this seasonal affair.

For vendors during Diwali, it is a cycle of paying, which starts in the name of challans. Vendors are asked to pay for every little thing to the most. “We are supposed to pay Rs 1000 to the police and Rs 500 to the fire department to get permission to set up a stall. But these are the official amounts, which is in no way on par to what the actual amount of money we end up paying. Most of the time, we almost spend Rs 20,000 only to set up stalls, and small vendors like us have a bad time as the profit margin is sometimes nil and we end up with severe losses,” says Sunil (name changed) vendor from a popular chain stall.

Rana (name changed), another vendor echoed, “Police often turn up after we pay all the charges. They come to our stalls to buy crackers for Diwali, without paying a single penny. This stands true not only for the police officials but also for people from the municipalities, fire department and others.”

“Police often buy crackers for Diwali without paying a single penny. This stands true not only for the police officials but also for people from the municipalities, fire department and others”

Apart from the adversity caused by the chain system of corruption, many a times there is no proper demarcation on the revenue to be levied. “Every shop, be it a small one with a single 60W bulb or a very huge shop with flashy decorations and plenty of lights, have to pay exactly the same amount of money which is Rs 4,000. This is in no way justified for many small scale vendors,” says Vaanipratap (name changed) stall owner.

Sightings for the merry making Diwali is on with fervor, but many times the people who have been responsible for the happiness watching the fireworks, remain in dark and in peril. One pathetic scene was that at the chain stalls set up at Neredmet X Roads, the stalls stand adjacent to the GHMC dump yard, and more than less business, the foul smell of the locality is bothering the vendors which invites close to nil buyers.