For years, Murali has been working as the manager of a medium-sized wedding hall in Thirumala in the capital. Until March this year, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it was almost smooth sailing for him. With public gatherings becoming impossible and wedding halls forced to down their shutters, many like him were forced to look for other avenues. Since April, he has been farming in a small plot of land that he owns.
“I am cultivating plantain and other vegetables. Some of it got damaged in the rains. Most of the workers in this sector have now taken up other jobs to survive. Some of our cleaning staff are now working as domestic helps in households, while some others are going for other daily wage work,” says Murali.
Most wedding halls in the State remain closed since March 12. Even though the government has allowed functions with 50 guests since June, a majority are opting to hold smaller functions at home. The government has now allowed functions with 100 guests from September 21, but wedding hall owners remain sceptical.
The crisis has hit many who work in allied sectors depending on the big wedding industry, right from wedding photographers to flower traders to event managers, catering units, and decorators.
“This is the longest stretch without work that I have experienced. Most of us are keeping afloat due to some savings from previous projects. But those who have recently invested in new, costly cameras and equipment are struggling,” says a wedding photographer, on condition of anonymity.
The wedding hall owners, especially the smaller ones, are struggling to pay their employees and repay the advance amounts for bookings that were cancelled.
“For the first few months, we managed to pay all the staff. But now with the smaller gatherings and lesser number of weddings, most of us cannot afford to keep all the staff. We had availed ourselves of a loan to repay some of the advance amounts. The GST amounts on these cancelled bookings will not be coming back to us any time soon and will be adjusted only on future bookings,” says Rarith, managing director of RDR Auditorium in Thiruvananthapuram
Anand Kannassa, president of the Auditorium Owners’ Welfare Association, says that only a handful of weddings have happened after the partial lifting of restrictions. Since they have to get police permission to organise in halls now, people opt to organise it at home. The government should fix the number of persons allowed as per the size of the hall. There should be relaxations in fixed charges in electricity bills and building tax, he says.