GUWAHATI, March 9— In the State, bandhs, called by various organisations to press for their demands, have been causing on an average losses worth around Rs 900 crore in a year. An individual family in the State is also made to lose Rs 2,000, on an average, every year by such bandhs while a day of bandh means a loss Rs 41.14 crore for the State as a whole, said Federation of Industries and commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER) president Abhijit Barooah, while releasing his organisation’s report on the impact of bandhs on the economy of Assam for the period between April 2001 and March 2002 here today.
During the study period, the State suffered a total loss Rs 15,015,02 lakh (Rs 15,015 crore). However, some impacts of bandhs on the economy could not be quantified like the loss of opportunities, scaring away the intending investors, loss to the academic world, etc. Sri Barooah said, adding, poor States like Assam cannot afford the luxury of bandhs and for a better future of the State the people should start defying the bandh calls. Between April 2001 and March 2002, there were total nine days of Assam bandhs, 14 days of Upper Assam, Lower Assam and Middle Assam bandhs and 36 days of district bandhs in the State. The FINER report, prepared with the financial help of NEDFi, while providing the above information, observed that this was definitely an improvement of the situation, as, it said, during the period between May 1997 and June 1998, a NEDFi study had shown 16 Assam bandhs.
Again, an Asom Bani report had it that there were 25 Assam bandhs in 1999, 20 in 2000, 17 in 2001 and seven in 2002. During those years, the local bandhs were 94,112, 101 and 88 respectively, said the FINER report, quoting the Asom Bani news item. Referring to the observation made by an ONGC officer, the FINER report said that some bandhs are called only to notify their existence by some organisations. Though, this is now understood by many people, they unfortunately find it difficult to oppose such bandh calls publicly, the report said.
Elaborating on the loss the bandhs cause to economy on a day, the report said that the railways incur a loss of Rs 9.8 lakh if the Rajdhani Express between Guwahati and Delhi is detained for a day, and Rs 2.40 lakh if the NE Express is detained, Rs 2.10 lakh, if the Saraighat Express is detained and Rs 40,000, if the Manas-Rhino Express is detained for a day. The amount of loss incurred by these trains is the amount of revenue loss to the State and Central exchequers, while the loss to the vendors, transport operators and rickshaw-pullers is much greater and this cannot be measured by the cash loss. One rupee to the poor person is much more valuable than it is to the rich man, the report said.
The Assam State Transport Corporation had to incur a loss of Rs 2,63,285 on a day of Assam bandh, even as it had to bear the expenditure worth Rs 1065 per bus as an operating cost. Likewise, the private bus operators also had to suffer huge losses due to the bandhs, the report said referring to the study period. However, it admitted that the ASTC-related figure was somewhat conservative.
A single day of bandh means a loss of Rs 50,000 for the Department of Inland Water Transport, while the Silpukhuri Branch of the UCO Bank faces a situation of cash transactions of Rs 1.50 crore and clearing of cheques worth Rs 50 lakh being held up in a day of bandh, the report said, providing a hint of the loss incurred by the banks for the bandhs. A bandh day also means wastage of Rs 20 crore, the State Government spends on its employees’ salary on a day. The State Government also loses a revenue worth around Rs 84 lakh it is to receive from sales tax, on a bandh day, while the bandhs have been working as deterrent for the growth of tourism in the State, the report said.
Business transactions worth Rs 36.06 crore in the wholesale market for essential commodities at Fancy Bazar in the city comes to a grinding halt on a bandh day and the wholesale fish market at Paltanbazar here also faces, on such a day, a total halt to the transactions worth Rs. 14,08,000 the report said. The Oil India Ltd’s operation also come to a total halt resulting in a loss to the State an amount of Rs 39.30 lakh and to the Centre Rs 28.27 lakh, on a bandh day. A bandh day makes the ONGC also to face a loss of 5,000 tonnes in production, 500 rig-days and about 5,000 man-days.
The impact of the bandhs on the State’s education sector is that many students of the State are compelled to migrate to other States, making the State thereby, lose a good amount of money. On the other hand, the bandhs on the Independence Days and Republic Days have been preventing the children of the State for the past 23 years (1979-2002), from taking part in the celebrations of these two remarkable days, the FINER report said. The function was also addressed by FINER secretary Prasanta Goswami, FINER vice president Subhash Agarwal and NEDFi’s Dr Amiya Kumar Sarma, among others.