Summary:
Satish Samant With D N Singh
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Gym or fitness centers are one of the worst sectors during the Pandemic.
Fitness is a necessity for physical and mental wellness, is now viewed as a pressing need of the time.
Demand has increased manifold among the common people.
But, simultaneously a huge drop in business has left the Gym operators the rising debt has put the operators under financial pressure and the recent decision to continue with the ban has nearly crippled them.
Gym As A Means For Health
Gyms or fitness centers are no more high-end workout destinations but have become a need.
And it is not about fitness alone but, gyms, numbering above 850 in Odisha have become the source of employment for youth as trainers and caretakers.
In the capital city Bhubaneswar alone, about 200 Gyms employ more than two thousand trainers, with an average salary of Rs.25 thousand to 30 thousand rupees per month.
Health awareness has obviously given a boost to the number of people taking to gyms for fitness and cutting across age barriers.
Even the footfalls of elderly men and women have increased who realize that disciplined workouts help in immunity boost as well.
Waves after waves of the pandemic came and may continue but, this sector looks in askance as it has never fallen within the compassion of the government for any interim financial stimulus to survive.
Most of the Gym owners are run by people who are either rooted in that culture or others taking to this as a profession under compulsions.