Numaish is not just fun and frolic but also a source of employment for many. About 7,000 people find seasonal employment at the fair every year.
There are 2,200 stalls in the exhibition. On an average, at least three people are hired to work as salesmen in each small shop, while the bigger ones like food courts, showrooms, amusement parks, crockery and apparels stores employ between 10 and 15 people.
A good number of those employed here are youngsters who are lured by the lesser working hours and attractive payment. The workers are paid between Rs. 250 and Rs. 350 a day. While dinner is also on offer, a few shops pay travel expenses and other incentives too.
Students find it a lucrative offer and take up the part time jobs.
“We have two polytechnic students working here. A 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. shift earns them Rs. 300 a day,” says Mohammed Pasha of Y. S. Fashion Wear, an apparels store.
While a majority of those employed are locals, stall owners who come from other states bring a few workers along. At the end of the 46-day fair, people earn anywhere between Rs. 14,000 to Rs. 18,000.
Syed Nayeem, a salesman, says, “I assist my father at his stall at Pathergatti but during Numaish I take up a job here. It fetches good income.
Stall owners are mostly new and are seasonal businessmen and prefer experienced workers.”
This apart, girls and women are also preferred for jobs in electronics and ladies accessories stalls, which witness a stream of women customers. The largest job provider is the exhibition society.
Around 500 persons are employed by it every year for different jobs. This year, the society has enrolled around 110 persons as volunteers, 110 as security guards, 100 as watch-and-ward staff, 60 booking clerks, 50 health and sanitation staff and 100 electricians and so on.
“We have been regularly employing them for the last many years. In fact their numbers have increased due to security reasons and huge crowds. We pay them a remuneration of a few lakh rupees every year,” says R. Sukesh Reddy, secretary, Exhibition Society.
