Every year, the demand for umbrellas shoots up ahead of the monsoon in June, which coincides with the reopening of schools in the State.
Salija N.S. (37) of Muhamma in Alappuzha district used to get bulk orders for stitching umbrella canopies in April and May from Marari Marketing Ltd, a company owned by Kudumbashree neighbourhood groups, which sells umbrellas under the brand name 'Maari'.
This year, Salija received orders for stitching 600 umbrella canopies, which she says is only a tiny fraction compared to the previous years. "I used to stitch 240 umbrellas in a day, earning ₹600. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, I made ₹45,000 between April and July in 2020. This year, however, the situation is different. I have been stitching umbrellas for the past 10 years and have never gone through such an ordeal. Financially, it has been a difficult couple of months for my family due to the lack of work," says Ms. Salija, a mother of two.
Her husband, a coir worker, became unemployed after the imposition of COVID-19-induced lockdown and the family is finding it hard to make ends meet.
Stitching bags
“Although the government has eased lockdown restrictions, I am not expecting fresh orders any time soon,” she says. With hardly any orders for canopy stitching, Salija has turned to stitching carry bags for Supplyco for distributing food kits.
Unavailability of required materials coupled with a lack of demand have hit manufacturing units, especially small-scale units and individuals involved in umbrella-making, hard.
Ramadevi V. (60) of Kalavoor, who is working in the finishing unit of an umbrella-making company, says her salary has become irregular in the last couple of months. “It is my only source of livelihood. There is not much work and people like me are facing an uncertain future,” she says.
Sajimon, in-charge of marketing and production at Marari Marketing, says the sales have nosedived this season. “We used to sell around 50,000 umbrellas during the school reopening period. This year, the sale is yet to touch even 5,000. This has affected the production units,” he says.