That Assam and other north eastern states are notorious for bandhs and strikes for even minor, unimportant reasons, is a well-documented fact. But no effort was made so far to quantify the monteray losses that the states suffer due to these bandhs. Now thanks to the Federation of Industries and Commerece of North Eastern Region, there is some idea of the staggering losses suffered in the state.

Assam loses an estimated Rs 900 crore annually because of bandhs, the FINER study says. The study covered  bandhs in Assam from April 2001 to March 2002.

There were nine statewide bandhs, 13 regional bandhs (Upper Assam/Lower Assam and central Assam) and 36 district bandhs during this period.

"A daylong bandh means a loss of Rs 41.14 crore and poor states like Assam cannot afford this luxury," FINER president, Abhijit Baruah, said. He appealed to all organisations to opt for other ways of registering their protest against any injustice.

Citing an example of how the government incurs losses during bandhs, the report says a single bandh can cost the exchequer Rs 20 crore. The government allocates Rs 410.95 crore towards salaries of its employees per month but loses crucial mandays because of bandhs.

The worst affected sectors are mining and quarrying, manufacturing, transport and communication, hotel, banking and public administration.

The report also states that the younger generation, especially those born after 1979, has been deprived of celebrating Independence and Republic Day for the last 23 years due to bandhs.

"Apart from other factors contributing to the economic backwardness of the state, the frequent bandhs called by various organisations in different parts of the state during the last few years are very much responsible for the tardy growth of domestic income of the state. Assam is now a relatively poor and economically backward state as compared to other states of the country. The Economic Survey showed that in respect of per capita income in 2001, the status of Assam is 27th out of the 29 states of the country, with only Orissa and Bihar behind," Baruah said.