Bhubaneswar, Nov. 20: As the speed of note-counting fingers slowed, so did those of page-turners.
The scrapping of high-value currency notes cast a shadow over the sales of books at the recently-concluded Ekamra Pustak Mahotsav and Kalinga Book Fair.
Officials of the organising committees of the both book fairs told The Telegraph that they witnessed a dip in sales by about 50 per cent to 80 per cent compared to previous years.
The book fairs wore a deserted look as even book lovers and avid readers were left with hardly any cash at hand because of the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
"The book fair had just started when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of currency notes on November 8. As a result, all cash transactions came to a sudden halt in no time. Everywhere in the city, people are running helter-skelter to exchange and withdraw money to be able to buy essential commodities for survival. There has been almost zero footfall in the last few days," said Abhay Singh of Book Bazaar, Delhi.
Bhaskar Jena, the organising committee member of Ekamra Pustak Mela, said: "The footfall and sales records matched those of the previous years only during the first weekend of the fair (November 5 and 6) this time. But after the demonetisation move, the footfall on subsequent weekends fell to almost half of that on the first weekend."
"A number of publishers had come to our fair from across the country hoping for good business. But, they were all left high and dry," he said.
The bad sales fortune did not spare even those booksellers who were ready to accept payments in electronic mode. "I made business of only around Rs 20,000 this year. Last year, my sales figures stood at more than Rs 1 lakh," said Mohan Kumar from a Bhubaneswar-based publication house who had a credit/debit card terminal for use at their kiosk at the book fair.
Poor sales dogged not only the book fair, but also the ongoing National Tribal Crafts Fair where tribal craftsmen from various parts of the state have set up their vending kiosks. Unlike the two book fairs, the tribal crafts fair witnessed a steady footfall. But, most visitors were simply there to browse the stores and window shopping rather than buying anything.
The sales record at the tribal crafts fair was hit all the more as the tribal people have no idea about the various modes of digital transactions, such as credit and debit cards and e-wallets.
"Demonetisation did not affect our lives much in the villages as we hardly deal in big currency notes there. We only felt the impact after coming to the city to sell items at the fair. We saw huge queues outside the ATM counters everywhere. Sales have been badly hit," said Baitarani, a crafts seller from the Baiga tribe.
She also said that they faced enormous difficulty in giving change to customers who came to their kiosks to buy items of small value with the newly launched currency notes of Rs 2,000.
Festive shopping for Prathamashtami (the eighth day of the Odia calendar month of Margasira) tomorrow, has also been low. On Prathamashtami, the eldest child of the family is given clothes and gifts. Vendors at the local markets have been hit badly with affluent buyers choosing shopping malls that offer electronic modes of payment.
"This is of the most profitable seasons of the year for us. But the sales this year have been very poor. Overall, sales have fallen by around 30 per cent in comparison to last year," said Manimala Jena, a trader at Unit-I Daily Market.
