Copyright mxmindia
With apologies to none at all In the bygone era of print being the dominant news media, newspapers had a swagger of their own. I am still an avid newspaper reader as I think it has enough pause in it to just not report but also check, investigate and opinionate. But in a world where every news is Breaking News, no one has the patience or energy to understand a piece of news better. But there is another reason why I love newspapers. Because I love to read the classified ads and try and understand what’s happening locally. I would follow this habit during my travel to all parts of the world and seven or eight years ago, I wrote a blog on this which you can read here. In Dehradun where I live, there is a weekly Classified Newspaper, which comes out every Sunday. It publishes all types of classified ads, from jobs to matrimonial to property to rentals to services to educational institutions. These are display ads, some full-page, most smaller than quarter page and many, just text of two-three lines. The newspaper itself is in the form of a tabloid, like Mid-Day and it costs only Rs 2. But the price is inconsequential as it makes its money through all the ads. These are not at all expensive, so the newspaper depends upon the volume of ads rather than the size of it. And it has done a very good job in terms of availability. It has tied up with all newspaper vendors in Dehradun and is delivered at your doorstep every Saturday or Sunday along with the main newspaper. They have an office but most of the ads are accepted online and so is the payment. The newspaper takes care of the layout etc and it just needs a high resolution logo to scan, if you have one. Just to give a sample of types of ads: Property, functions, jobs from teachers to maids to accountants to receptionists to delivery boys to personal drivers; sceptic tank cleaning, godowns, contractors to build houses, schools, colleges, tuition services, hostels and guest houses for students, tiffin providers, restaurants and eating destinations, dentists, second hand vehicles & white goods, matrimonial, small shops…….. And this newspaper was flourishing. Till demonetisation hit, it would average about 70-80 pages, per week. Read again. 70-80 pages of classified ads. For a city like Dehradun with a population of around 1.2-1.3 million, this was roaring business. To me, it signaled a buoyant local economy. It signaled lot of small businesses looking for manpower. It signaled small businesses which were the backbone of the economy as industries hardly exist. Demonetisation took a big toll and the newspaper never regained its past glory. It was down to 30-36 pages, By the time Covid hit, it had somehow managed to claw back to 40-44 pages but it hardly ever attained even 50 pages. And I could see that the biggest hit happened because small businesses like saree shops or gift shops or service providers like wedding or birthday event organisers, took a hit. And the fall-out of it was that the money in the system was reduced so even important businesses like cleaning sceptic tanks of houses or housing societies (sewerage system is still being developed), was being delayed. The cascading impact was that every business took a hit, some closed down and of course property selling and buying too took a back seat. But Covid broke the proverbial camel’s back for the newspaper. With consumption of anything but basic services curtailed, with labour fleeing, the economy went into a tailspin and so did the newspaper. It was reduced to maybe 10-16 pages. Post-Covid, when the economy started picking up and some splurge of accumulated wealth happened, the classified business got revived. Here one must understand that the core residents of Doon are retired defence and government employees, families of merchant navy officials, current government employees and employees of few public sector like ONGC and Survey Of India. These people were not affected during Covid. They were getting salaries or pensions but had no way to spend it. And almost 30% of Dehradun’s population is floating population of students in schools, colleges and institutions of higher education. They stay in hostels or PG. They rely on tiffin systems. They spend heavily on food, books and stationery type of items. And their parents too come occasionally to meet them, staying in hotels etc. All these students just disappeared during Covid as education shifted to online. And they too had not much expenditure in their hometowns and villages. That’s why post-Covid saw a big boom in splurging. Eating out. Buying new white goods. New clothes, furnishings, weekend travel to nearby places. Muted weddings during Covid were now celebrated again with all pomp. And during Covid a new breed of young software personnel from places as far as Hyderabad and Pune came in. They were WFH so they bought or rented property. Prices compared to the cities mentioned were less than one third. The property sector therefore, saw a boom too. And these new settlers meant that schools, tuitions, school transport, private vehicles, entertainment places like cafes and pubs mushroomed. This also helped local architects, CAs, contractors, tiffin service, taxi and autorickshaw drivers. The upshot was that Dehradun Classifieds reached around 50 pages in 2024 Diwali. At the start of 2025, I noticed that the pages in the newspaper had started to dwindle again and almost every sector was taking a hit. Pages to buy and sell and rent property halved. Schools cut down on splurging on admissions. Small businesses almost disappeared. Ads to sell old stuff increased. People looking for odd jobs increased. The number of pages had shrunk to around 28-30 by August end. I had hoped that during Navratri, with the GST cuts and all white goods brands announcing good offers, the number of pages will pick up. But that did not happen. The number in fact declined to 24. In all this, I have kept in touch with the owner of Doon Classified. The proprietor passed away a few months back and his young son is incharge. And I think the classified ads for them, is like tea leaves. They predict or diagnose, whichever way you want to look at it, the local economy. These people have lot of data. It needs to be collated and analysed. But their tea leaf reading is simple. Prices are outpacing income was what I was told earlier this year. So, people are not spending as much. The cascading effect is that sales of all items except for daily grocery are down. Increased inventory, even of simple items like bindi or kajal is forcing companies and shopkeepers to cut down their margins. The emergence of Q-commerce companies is forcing local retailers to also hold stock for longer or announce price cuts. Gig jobs have increased but so has competition and an oversupply of labour from Bihar and UP, due to job issues there, has lead to supply outstripping demand for gig jobs. Cancellation of exams for government jobs because of constant paper leaks is reducing job opportunities for youngsters. Many state government companies like jal sansthan or power corporation or road transport corporation are in losses due to corruption or mismanagement. So, the employee salaries are behind by thrre-four months. And last when I spoke to the youngster incharge at the classifieds, he asked me with a straight face, will the reduction in GST make people buy more soaps or clothes? They are thankful that at least they can continue buying daily need items. But there is hardly any saving to splurge, he said. And then I came across this report from FICCI. Indian consumers will save Rs 58-88 a month under GST 2.0. Will this saving revive the economy? And what happens post the festival season? I am convinced that Doon Classifieds is a good indicator to understand the economic pulse of the city. My tea leaf reader. Do you have something similar or indicators in your town to give you an idea about the local economy?
