Petition to Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi
The Fitness and public gym industry are facing huge losses due to the coronavirus lockdown. Highly impacted by the lockdown, gym owners of small and large setups are forced to lay off the support staff such as receptionists and cleaning crew. As the gym owners have started to accrue significant losses, they sadly have no other option.
It has barely been a few weeks since the lockdown and fitness centers are seeing the impact as there are no new sales and existing members are choosing to opt-out of their membership because of the uncertainty that’s ahead of them. This lockdown has not only affected small neighborhood gyms but big chains such as cult fit and golds gym who have more than 20 centers per city. Making the owners’ layoff a huge amount of staff or to send them on unpaid leaves
To cover the high monetary commitments for salary and rentals, gyms are offering online options to generate revenue, which has not picked up in the last 10 days. Adding to the plight of gym owners is the high investment already done on gym infrastructure and equipment. The trainers have been retained, however, their salary is directly dependent on their monthly sales and personal training sessions. As there is no other source of income for the gym trainers, many are on the verge of losing their savings. Some big centers are giving online training sessions to earn something but its not sufficient as the salaries of staff and trainers are relatively high.
This sharp decline in the cash flow of the gym industry has forced many small gym owners to shut down their business or to send staff on unpaid leaves. Not only the staff but the gym owners are also facing huge monetary pressure as they have to pay the rent and the loan they took for gym setup. Many of them doubt if they can be in the business if this nationwide lockdown lasts longer. People going through this tough time need monetary help from the government to help them sustain this lockdown.
This is why we are asking the Health Ministry and the Human Resource Development Ministry (MHRD) to issue a directive to provide financial aid to the gym owners and trainers and their other staff as well. There is an urgent need to make sure that trainers are not being put at risk of losing their jobs.
As a not for profit organization working towards the growth of the Indian Sports and Fitness industry, we are trying our level best to educate fitness trainers across India through live video lectures. We are also conducting live free workshops to train and educate fitness enthusiasts. But we are also very concerned about how these trainers will survive in the lockdown situation. If they lose their jobs, till when will they be able to survive on their savings? How will they be able to invest in their education and skill development to compete in the market? How will the gym owners be able to bear a load of these additional expenses with not revenue coming? The overall effort to grow and educate our industry is at risk. Therefore we urge MoHFW, MoYAS, and MHRD to immediately issue a directive to the state ministries to provide financial support to these stakeholders.
Akshay raut signed
Jeevan signed