Jantar Mantar protest site denotified: Small businesses fear losses as footfall dries up

New Delhi: Having dealt with the eerie silence that has settled over Jantar Mantar in the past few days amid tight security, the shopkeepers in the area are now staring at long-term dwindling footfall and mounting losses as the site no longer remains a designated venue for protests.

The Delhi Police on Monday denotified Jantar Mantar as the designated venue for demonstrations and named Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in east Delhi as alternative sites for protests. For the small businesses lining the stretch, the move has raised concerns over a potential decline in customers, particularly protesters who would routinely gather here.

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With barricades in place, a heightened police presence and several shops near the protest site remaining shut, vendors said the absence of protesters, coupled with fewer office-goers, has already begun affecting their earnings.

Vijay Gupta, who has been running a small food stall selling chole bhature, rajma chawal, matar kulcha and pulao near the protest site for over 20 years, said he expects losses of up to 40 per cent in a month.

"I have been here for over 20 years and have seen many protests. Those used to bring in substantial business. We have never faced losses of this scale before. This time, protesters are not being allowed, and office-goers are also not coming," Gupta said.

"Whenever there is a protest, small food stalls like ours see a rise in business. Since Jantar Mantar was a designated protest site, we could count on a steady stream of people during demonstrations. Now that it has been denotified, footfall is likely to decline, which will inevitably affect our earnings," he added.

Gupta said food stalls immediately outside the protest site had remained closed during an ongoing protest for the first time in his experience.

Ajay Kumar, who has been running a paan shop in the area for 26 years, talked about financial uncertainty and also questioned the implications of the move on the voices that are raised through protests.

"As a shopkeeper, I feel that now that Jantar Mantar has been denotified, the roads and metro stations should at least be opened so people can come to their offices. This protest has brought a wave of losses because there is hardly anyone around. This is supposed to be a busy street," Kumar said.

On the impact of the move on protests, he said, "It almost feels as if when Parliament is here, protesters are being forcibly sent to different corners of the city, where they can keep raising slogans but hardly anyone will take notice," he said.

The dwindling footfall was evident on Monday, with a lone security guard from a nearby office building present -- one of the very few customers visiting during the day.

For Rajiv, who goes by his first name and runs another paan shop in the area, the uncertainty has implications beyond his daily earnings.

"It is a very confusing time for all of us, to be honest. My father used to run this shop but is now too unwell to work. This shop supports our family and pays for my sister's education," he said, adding, "We will have to sit down and assess the losses we are likely to incur before making financial decisions accordingly."

According to an official order issued by Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar on October 11, the Union Home Ministry had constituted a committee to examine alternative venues for citizens to exercise their right to organise protests and demonstrations.

Based on the committee's recommendations, Jantar Mantar was denotified as a protest venue, the order said, adding that a revised standard operating procedure for organising demonstrations at the three new locations would be issued separately.

The denotification comes amid several calls given for protests at Jantar Mantar over the past few days by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and other organisation to demand the resignation of the chief election commissioner.

The demand follows allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and mass deletion of voters.

The protest site in July witnessed massive demonstrations helmed by the CJP over the NEET-UG paper leak earlier this year, leading to the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.