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My customers are postponing payment, says Ludhiana milkman
With customers deferring payment, cost of fodder increasing 56-year-old Sukhwinder Singh is in financial duress
Working during the novel coronavirus pandemic isn’t proving to be very rewarding for 56-year-old milkman Sukhwinder Singh.
With customers’ deferring payments, the cost of fodder increasing and the mounting cost of sanitisers, is it any surprise that Sukhwinder, who hails from Jassowal village and supplies milk to different areas of the city, cannot wait for the lockdown to end.
“Through the lockdown, I have ensured that I supply milk to customers on time as they need more milk than the regular days as they stay at home all day, however, I still will make less money than usual,” says Sukhwinder.
“A number of customers have already requested me to collect dues next month on top of it mixed feed, which would earlier cost ₹2,400 per quintal, is now being sold for ₹2,700 to ₹2,800. While I am trying to accommodate my customers, who are also facing a hard time due to the pandemic, deferred payments are only increasing to my worries,” he says.
Sukhwinder starts his day at 7am and supplies milk to around 110 houses in Phullowal, Model Town, Model Town Extension, Sarabha Nagar, Randhir Singh Nagar and Barewal with the help of his son, Jaskirat. Singh also supplies milk to the Verka plant.
Sukhwinder is cognisant of the risk of contracting the infection and takes precautionary measures, “During the course of my work, I come in contact with lots of people, which is why I always carry a sanitiser with me and maintain distance while putting milk in their containers. After I finish my work, I only step out of my home when I have to feed cattle in the evening,” he says.
Sukhwinder who lives with his wife Kuldeep Kaur and two sons Gurpreet Singh and Jaskirat Singh in the village requests the administration to ensure strictness in the rural area: “While people in the cities are following the rules, villagers are yet to take the coronavirus outbreak seriously,” he says.
