Abstract:

Covid19 stuck India in the 3rd week of March 2020, leading to a harsh Govt. mandated 'lockdown' of all businesses and services other than supply of essential goods. The lock down was enforced from 22 Mar 2020 in phases which are still continuing in some parts the cities in Karnataka in identified 'containment zones'. Sources of daily needs were mainly supplied by the Kirana stores/unorganized retail and Govt. Public Distribution System shops (PDS) as the big format stores such as the Big Bazaar, More Mall and online supply were closed. Mysore City survived through the lockdowns without any major disruption in the supply of daily needs such as grocery staples, spices, fruits, vegetables, FMCG, biscuits, snacks. This case study is a result of first-hand interviews by the authors with the individual shop owners, distributors and few of the shop owners who were willing to give information through questionnaire which was noted down. The issues thrown up by this case study open- up several fronts for study and organization as the sources for collecting information on unorganized retail data are non- existent as a system in Mysore City. The Kirana shops and unorganized retail kept the citizens or Mysore fed and supplied and continue to do so in these difficult times, it is said that 98% of the essential retail was controlled by the Kirana stores.

Learning objectives

1. To study the nature of existence of the unorganized retail outlets in Mysore City and how they managed the supply of essential goods during the Covid lockdowns.
2. To create awareness among the readers about the sources of essential goods and how the goods reach the end user in Mysore City.
3. To identify the problems experienced at various levels in the value chain of essential goods supply by the stake holders.
4. To recommend steps to be taken such that the flow of essential goods for the consumers at all times of the year remains smooth.