Lockdown hits Vijayawada schoolbag makers hard

Vijayawada: Nearly 5,000 workers, traders, loading and unloading workers and transport workers involved in the schoolbag business are a badly hit segment due to lockdown. Vijayawada is famous for manufacturing schoolbags and nearly 3,000 workers are eking livelihood by stitching schoolbags. Besides, another 2,000 persons are depending on sale of raw materials, particularly rexine and cloth.

This also hits the plans of the government to supply schoolbags as part of the 'Jagananna Vidya Kanuka' to children as and when it considers procuring the bags. The scheme itself has been a non-starter despite all plans in place due to various reasons, the lockdown being the latest one. These manufacturers supply bags to the schools in bulk too.

The price of schoolbag varies from Rs 300 to Rs 1,200 depending on the size, quality, design and finish. Traders and manufacturers of Vijayawada supply bags to all districts of Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Odisha and Tamil Nadu. The traders are short of raw materials which come from the North.Migrant workers from Bihar and Bengal and some locals stitch the bags. The traders pay Rs 30 to Rs 100 per bag to the worker based on the size, design and quality. R Naveen, a worker, said, he used to get Rs 500 to Rs 700 per day stitching bags but now dependent on the free ration supply of the Government.

March to May is the season for manufacturing of schoolbags and there are 200 manufacturing units in Vijayawada.

P Subhash Chandra Bose, a trader, said they were out of stock of cotton cloth, zips, thread, rexine cloth, beading and decorative items and other raw materials.

Shaik Saleem, a trader, said he employed nearly 50 workers at his manufacturing unit in One Town but there was no work for them now and it was an additional burden on him.