Leaving dreams behind, entrepreneur looks for job

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 24

Waiting is never easy, but what makes it even harder is uncertainty. This is what happened with Kamal Kishore, who started his own venture in Phagwara four years ago, but had to give up his dream after he found himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Troubled over the prolonged slump in his business in the wake of Covid-induced lockdown, Kamal was forced to shut down his office and look for a job.

It gave him a sense of Deja Vu when he was uploading a post on his social media account, asking people for employment.

“Since I was not in a position to bear any further expenses, I shut my business around two months back. I couldn’t pay salaries to my staff of three persons, who, like me, are now out of work,” said Kamal.

With hopes of a bright future, he had left his job in Panchkula and decided to start his own company by the name of ‘Amrit Asian Electronics’. An expert of hardware and software items, he started his service centre here along Banga road in Phagwara in 2016. His hard work started yielding him rewards, and soon his supply chain expanded due to the positive word of mouth. Within a year, his turnover was in lakhs. Before lockdown was announced, he was making satisfactory gains.

To his credit, he had repaired mobile phones of Sonia Gandhi and actor Amir Khan in early 2000s.

“In the beginning, I thought the lockdown would be lifted soon, so I kept paying the rent of my store and salaries to my staff. However, by August I was running out of my savings and with no orders in store, I was tight-handed. Subsequently, what I had dreaded happened and I had to seal my company. At present, I am in a dire need of a job to keep the stove burning in my home,” shared Kamal.

There are many others who share the similar tale of Kamal.

Jaswant Rai, deputy director, Employment Bureau, Jalandhar, said, as many as 2,651 people had approached the bureau during lockdown to enrol themselves in various schemes with hopes of starting new businesses with the help of loans.

Jakesh Sandra, who runs a private employment agency, said over 150 people had got themselves registered with his agency for employment.