Staggering production loss, which was avoidable

For a city not unaccustomed to bandhs, the survey day seemed like a blast from the past with the city wearing a deserted look and over 95 per cent of the shops and business establishments, offices, eateries and medical stores keeping their shutters down. As the people of Telangana went about answering questions for the survey, those craving a quick bite in the afternoon had to go hungry as almost all the eateries were shut. Even medical shops, petrol bunks and banks remained closed, causing a lot of inconvenience to the aam janata.

Public transport ceased to function because of the survey, impacting the free movement of general public. Educational institutions remained closed and shops and establishments closed their shutters. It being the festive season, retailers could be found fuming at the loss of business on the day.

Hyderabad is the pharma and IT capital of Telangana and is also a major contributor to the business in these two sectors on a national level. Due to the two-day bandh, these sectors were badly hit. IT companies, which work on back-end operations for various MNCs from the USA and Europe encountered losses when their employees could not come to work due to the survey.

Though the enforced public holiday caused production losses, Telangana Inc was least bitter about it as it had seen worse days earlier, thanks to bandhs and power cuts.

"We have gone through worse times and the industry is just limping to normalcy and it was unfair for industries to remain closed again for two days. It is not only a loss for the state but also for the country," Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) AP chairman Suresh Rayudu Chitturi said.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI), which has around 25,000 members belonging to trade, commerce and industries, was of the opinion that the loss of a productive day would pinch the industry.

IT companies, which are the major revenue earners for the state, opined that a day's loss was not manageable.

“We have just come out of the bandh season after a year of uncertainty. We had informed our company about the order and almost all of them remained closed. As far as the overall losses are concerned, it is a big deal for IT companies because the eight hours of work loss cannot be made up easily,” expressed a manager of an IT company on condition of anonymity.

Tollywood has been going through a dry spell this season. With theatres in the city and districts shut for the survey the industry suffered more losses.

“Industries incurred a loss of Rs 1,000 crore in the 24 hour bandh in all parts of Telangana. State government-owned Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL) suffered a production loss of 20,000 tonnes of coal, valued at Rs 20 crore,” said a senior company official.

According to Gheesulal Jain, ex-president of Pharma Association of Andhra Pradesh, “The pharma industry loss of two days (as today was a partial holiday) is about Rs 250 crore.”

There are many more industries that faced a genuine threat to their subsistence because of the complete paralysis of the city and the state. This is probably the last thing a government, which is being attacked from all quarters for various reasons, needed.