How one day 'Maharashtra Bandh' affects the state economy!

Maharashtra suffered a day-long shutdown on 9th august as Maratha outfits called for a state-wide bandh for reservation. Government had beefed up the security across the state since protests held by Maratha groups last month has witnessed large-scale violence and arson in various parts of the state.

Daily life disrupted:

Business houses in Maharashtra are counting their losses after a day-long bandh brought the state to a grinding halt on Thursday. Buses and trains were halted and hotels and shops forced to down shutters, paralyzing business activity around the state. Malls, which attract around 25000 footfalls a day, were deserted till evening.

Retail stores worst affected:

However, small establishments suffered the most. “There are 3.5 million license holders in the state. Even if we assume Rs. 2000 loss for each of them, the total revenue loss due to the bandh is Rs. 7 billion.  Around 85 per cent of the costs for retailers are fixed in nature and a single-day business loss can wipe off 1.5 per cent of the annual profit. Such bandhs don’t help anyone,” said Viren Shah, President of Federation of Retail Trade Welfare Association.

Transport sector losses: 

Meanwhile, in Pune, the bandh affected the traffic movement in the city leaving commuters stranded. “We are supporting this bandh only because we are scared of our loss. They can vandalize anything here,” a rickshaw driver said. Operators of private cab services like Ola, Uber were also affected as driver partners stayed away from the streets since Wednesday night.

Bank sector losses:

The suspension of work in banks hampered banking transactions which are crucial for the conduct of business operations especially in areas which are serviced by branch banking operations, the industry body stated.
Banking sectors were among the worst hit as 23 public sector banks, 12 private sector banks, 52 regional rural banks and over 13000 co-operative banks were left shut because of the bandh.

Stock market big-time low:

The two national stock exchange headquarters in Mumbai made a determined effort to remain open, however, trading turnover was less than half. The Bombay Stock Exchange turnover was Rs 2857 crore on 9th August in comparison to Rs. 4554.87 crore on 8th August. There was a decline of 37%. In case of National Stock Exchange, the turnover was Rs 7765.05 crore in contrast to the previous day when it was Rs 11,458 crore. Thus, there was a steep decline of 34%. 

Photo credit: http://vijayavani.net

Final word:
Such bandhs or violent protests do nothing but cause more disturbances in the society along with incurring huge losses to the economy. The Indian economy cannot afford such disruptions and all the constituents are required to work together to take the country forward.
It is proved time and again that violence causes more problems than it solves.