Kolkata: The reopening of the school after almost two years of Pandemi has provided a boost on the footwear and the skin industry where the trading body has set a request of more than one million – 10 lakh – install school shoes in the next few months.
Parents have begun to rush into local and branded footwear shops to buy school shoes for their ward because the government announced a complete opening of the school from the pre-primary part of Monday.
The senior school was reopened earlier this month, but students were called in staggering ways.
The footwear industry is one of the worst hits because of the pandemic as a school, college, office, marriage and formal functions are turned off due to local safety restrictions and guidelines.
Many schools ask students to wear uniforms for online classes, but there are no strict rules for footwear.
Students in a higher class have surpassed their shoes while those in a very Junior class have never bought shoes because the school has been closed two years ago.
Almost all of them must finally have to buy footwear that will provide a big boost for the industry.
West West West Bengal Footwear Board, the Body of the Footwear Retailers and Manufacturers, has set a request for more than one million pairs in the next few months as a new session begins.
“It’s already in a rush of parents to buy school shoes since the announcement reopened on Monday.
Some schools are now deciding to let students wear casual shoes until they managed to buy new school shoes.
We have started ordering fresh,” said Wang Lei, A footwear trader in Bentinck Street.
In most schools, separate pairs are needed for sports.
So, most parents must buy at least two pairs of shoes for their children.
“I went to buy shoes for my daughter who was in UKG and there was a big invasion of parents in a shop that had come for the same purpose,” said Dipti Rajgaria, a resident of Lake Town.
Nearly 5 million people in the state are associated with trade, which includes retailers, producers, workers, sweatshop owners and suppliers of raw materials.
“We have received large orders from branded companies to produce school shoes to be sent in mid-March,” said Ashraf Ali, factory owners in Topsia who produce footwear for brands.