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No takers for Chinese rakhis in Jamshedpur

JAMSHEDPUR: Driven by anti-China sentiments, both residents and traders of Steel City are giving a miss to China-made rakhis for the Raksha Bandhan celebrations slated for Monday during the Covid-19 pandemic . The traders said since their businesses are also hit by the pandemic coupled with the reduced incomes of their customers, they are stocking up on locally made and budget rakhis this year.




Krishna Agarwal, a rakhi seller at the Basant Cinema lane in Sakchi market, said, “Customers prefer desi rakhis which are not costly and we have bought stocks from Kolkata which are low to moderately priced.”

He said rakhis with hand-crafted golden lace, bracelet models and capsule models with floral designs are in demand while golden-plated gota rakhis and those with vibrant colours are also selling like hotcakes.

Another rakhi seller, Ajay Gupta, who owns a shop on the Sakchi-Kasidih lane of the market said, “Floral-shaped rakhis with a traditional twist are also being preferred by customers but bracelet-shaped rakhis and capsule model rakhis are more in demand this year.”

In a unique marketing model, city-based women social groups, which used to organise rakhi melas before the pandemic, are selling their products over the phone and social media. Kavita Dhoot, a member of Maheswari Mandal, said, “We did not organise rakhi mela this year and used social media platforms to display our products to the customers. We take online bookings and deliver them.”

A business manager from Kadma, Smriti Kumari, said, “Rakhis of different prices are available in the market but people prefer those in the range of Rs 20 to Rs 50.”

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which had given a call to the traders to sell desi rakhis only following confrontations with the Chinese soldiers at the border in June, said Chinese rakhis have virtually disappeared from the markets in Jamshedpur.

“Our campaign on social media platforms has achieved considerable success as neither the customer is demanding the China items nor the local traders are selling them,” CAIT national secretary Suresh Sonthalia said.

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