Reeling under pressure from moneylenders, problems in repaying loans and lack of government support, suicide rates among small businessmen is skyrocketing in the capital

One of the communities worst affected by the economic crisis brought on by the Covid induced lockdown of 2020 was that of businessmen and small traders. The extent of the problem can be gauged by the recent statement of the Union government in the Parliament , citing a report by the National Crime Records Bureaus, revealing that a total of 11,716 businesspersons died by suicide in 2020 recording a jump of over 29%  since 2019.

The problem is worse for Delhi as NCR reported the highest numbers of suicides (3,142) in 2020 among all the Union Territories, a jump of 24.2% compared to 2019. Suicide rate per one lakh during the year 2020 was 15.50 in Delhi, which is 4.2 more than the national average of 11.3.

Talking to Patriot Johnson Thomas, Director and Counsellor at Aasra, and NGO working for suicide prevention,  says “We receive 200-250 calls of distressed people for counselling on a daily basis, and from the last one-year a majority of these people are ones facing financial problems, small businessmen and traders are mostly under pressure from moneylenders and earning a living for their family has become hard for them, which coerces them to take the extreme step”.

Suggesting a solution for the problem, he added that “The Government should come up with a plan, defaulters should be given a chance and their CIBIL score should not be degraded, so that they can get loans to boost their business”.

According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the current unemployment rate in India has touched 7.3 % while Delhi has an unemployment rate of 9.3 %, this score has improved from 20.3 % in July 2020 and 45.6 % in May 2021, when Covid was at its peak.

Mohit Sharma, Territory Manager at the loan department of the IDFC First Bank says, “Amid the Coronavirus crisis, companies has to resort to salary cuts to keep themselves afloat,  some firms had to terminate employees to ensure financial stability, in this time personal loans and self-employed loans were most affected in the banking sector, many people were not able to pay EMIs and loans given to small business owners and shopkeepers were disrupted”. He further adds that “according to an estimate our bank was doing business of rupees 40 crores from these loans before Covid and amid pandemic, the numbers have come down to 5 crores, but now as the economy is bouncing back, businesses are also coming out of the crisis”.

Chandni Chowk, one of Delhi’s busiest markets is finding good footfall in the marriage season and the situation has changed drastically since last year, but effects of the lockdown still loom large on this bustling market.

Talking to Patriot Lakhan Lal Gupta, Vice President of Chandni Chowk Sarv Vypar Mandal says “Last year the situation was grim, we were expecting some relief from the government, they could have at least given us some rebate in GST and electricity bills should have been slashed, but nothing was done for shopkeepers, now we are worrying about the third wave”.

Deepak Kumar Jain, General Secretary of Chandni Chowk Sarv Vypar Mandal said “Amid the pandemic, our income had dropped to zero, sales went down by 90%, it was a hard time and bearing expenses was not easy, we were using our savings to survive and it was taking a toll on the mental health of traders. And  even after the lockdown was eased the financial stress remained”.

“Two brothers, who were running a jewellery shop ended their life due to financial stress caused by lockdown, their business was not doing well even before the pandemic, but the lockdown was the final nail in the coffin”

When asked why businesses came under stress, Mr Jain informs that “many traders were working hand to mouth and they were running the business on people’s money, the sudden lockdown had brought their financial circle to a standstill, 2-3 months closure had broken their backs, that’s why many businessmen drowned amid pandemic”.

He also added that they were expecting help from the government during the lockdown but no received no help from the administration.

When asked about the current scenario, Mr Jain informs that “ businesses are coming back to normal, but now shopkeepers are worried that a third wave of virus will ruin many businesses and defaulting on loan repayments will again become the norm”. This will again increase stress on small businessmen and traders who are yet to recover from the lockdown.

(Cover: Getty Images)