ASSAM SUFFERED RS 1028 CRORE LOSS IN 2017 DUE TO BANDHS

Assam has incurred a loss of over Rs 1,028 crore due to 17 statewide bandhs in 2017. The figure will go up further as it does not include strikes called at local and district levels. A total of 184 blockades took place on National Highways as part of agitation programmes by different groups across the state. In 2017, various organisations called for 18 local bandhs, 42 district bandhs, 17 Assam bandhs and four Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) bandhs.

As per the Supreme Court ruling, any such bandh is illegal and the state government is taking steps in that direction. In a PIL filed in the Gauhati High Court in 2012, the state government had said that it was contemplating a law to prohibit bandhs in state. Accordingly, ‘The Assam Prohibition and Prevention of Bandh Bill, 2017' was drafted and it is currently under "active consideration" of the state government.