By: Geetanjali
Farmer’s Protest: Affecting Small-Scale Industries
Amid the upcoming General Election 2024, Farmer’s protest has resumed with the Motto of “Delhi Chalo”. After two years from 2020-2021, farmers and farmers Union have again initiated to stride towards The National Capital Territory of Delhi with a rigid aim to get their point to the government.
Unlike the farmers protest in 2020-21 when farmers were not stopped from stepping and protesting inside the Capital, this time the leadership is taking preventive measures to stop farmers from entering New Delhi by barricading Delhi border and implementing section 144 beforehand.
This farmers protest has affected every facet of an economy, from transportation to logistics to movement every thing has paced down. And the most affected among all these are small scale businesses and industries which have a comparatively local logistic and supply chain system.
Due to the present circumstances borders are completely sealed making it hard for businesses to procure raw material and to transport finished goods outside Delhi. Because of the sealed Tikri and Singhu border which connects Delhi to Haryana will require businesses to procure raw material for their factories from different locations or raw material trucks will take longer to reach industries which will affect the prices of commodities produced.
As a result of the tightly sealed borders the transportation cost is set to increase as now the transportation trucks will take more time to reach their destination as roads are blocked due to long traffic jams. In addition to increased logistics and transportation costs, small scale industrialists are also worried about the commute difficulty of employees residing outside Delhi as majority of small scale industries are located in the outskirts of Capital.
Apart from industrialists, shop owners near the Delhi-Haryana borders are also facing difficulty maintaining their businesses in such a disorganised environment.
