Reflecting on Bandhs & Blockades
- Part 2 -

E Bijoykumar Singh *

24 hours General Strike called against incursion by Nagaland at Dzuko Valley on May 23 2015 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

I grew up in pre-left front West Bengal, then the notorious state of shutdowns when the Naxalite movement was flowering. The school activities were not dislocated by the bandhs because ours was a residential school. It was only heavy rain that could affect our school. Even in that case we would be asked to go to the study halls in every hostel.

In the night we used to hear the wonderfully rhythmic chorus of bandh supporters marching along the bylanes of our locality. Fast-forward it to early 90s. I was in Indian Statistical Institute , Kolkata attending a three month programme. The employees would gather and gherao the Director only during lunchtime. Once lunchtime was over, everyone would return to their normal work as if nothing had happened.

Their attitude to the approach is really different. They did that with a conviction. In Manipur it was only during the June 18 events that we had seen high quality people’s involvement with conviction. In the next few days we would be celebrating another anniversary of the rare moment in our history. It was so spontaneous that no political party has been able to appropriate its space.

Many things start happening once a B&B is announced. A long queue in front of a petrol pump is one indicator of a blockade. Demand for petroleum products picks up suddenly due to hoarding. The price of petrol will immediately shoot up to Rs 100 per litre and vendors would be merrily selling petrol in plastic bottles in front of closed petrol pumps. The government would routinely warn them of strict actions.

Unfortunately no newspaper ever report of any action taken in this regard. Can we rule out a nexus among petrol pump owner-vendors-police-politicians? Many petrol pumps are owned by people with known political connections. This connection may explain the passive role of government. When the government is not expected to do anything serious, long queues and hoarding are quite rational.

Some of us hoard for our use only and some for resale when the price rises. The first category hoards to minimise the impact of impending price rise. Sometimes it is more sensible to pay Rs 100 per litre in the grey market rather than standing for hours in the queue for 5/10 litres of petrol at normal rate .If we factor in the cost of waiting it is no longer the normal rate.

The second category does it to earn some abnormal profit at the time of scarcity. You never know how long would be an indefinite blockade. It may end overnight or may continue for 100 days. Both ways the expectation of impending scarcity quickens the actual event. The explosive rise in the price of salt a few years ago shows how powerful such expectations can be .Salt disappeared from the market in 10 hours.

The prices of fuels start to rise and higher fuel price cascades into higher prices of goods to take care of higher transport cost. Even rickshaw drivers would demand a higher fare because prices have risen.

Does it mean a lose-lose scenario for us? How we can change it into a win-win scenario depends on how fast we can initiate the coping strategies. The owners of goods and factors of production whose prices have risen more than the overall price rise stand to benefit. A blockade may result in a highly remunerative market for some items which otherwise would have been sold at throw-away prices .

An Imphal-Moreh blockade would benefit our watermelon growers. Sometimes challenging times unwittingly bring out the best in us. Our B&B are no exception. When a blockade interferes with the normal supply of vegetables in the market, the prices of locally available items are bound to rise. The remunerative price of our tomatoes, cabbages, cucumbers and watermelon would be a boon for our farmers and help them in adopting better technology with higher yields.

Such blockades have always provided an opportunity for introspection among our entrepreneurs. The ubiquitous Eigyagi’s Chaksangs and tent houses are fine examples of entrepreneurship .In a sense longer blockades will be more beneficial to the economy as a whole. Our work culture will come under the scanner. Though the structure of our economy has undergone significant changes, our social norms remain rooted to a time of plenty. The opportunity for introspection can regenerate the dormant entrepreneurship.

This is an aspect I keep on stressing in discussions on Look East Policy. The scarcity induced by a blockade will compel us to be more economic in the use of our resources and a process of adjustment will begin.

A prolonged blockade may turn many short distance travellers cyclists. In addition to the savings, environmental pollution due to fossil fuels will be reduced. Ceteris paribus or everything else remaining the same is a common qualifier in economic theory and blockades provide a simulated lab for entrepreneurship by allowing us assume away import. Some smart entrepreneurs may invest in cold storage chains and processing units across the state. With adequate demand food scientists may come up with technology to keep Yongchak and other seasonal vegetables fresh throughout the year.

Human beings have a wonderful capability for adjustment even in very trying situations. Coping measures against the adverse effects of B&B would emerge on its own. There will be demand for institutions with adequate infrastructure and also capable to dealing with the disruptive effects of B&B. The effect of B&B on education will be minimised in residential schools and colleges.

Residential schools with coaching facilities for engineering and medical admission will be in demand. In the case of health care providers mobile vans will become popular which will provide health care facilities at the doorstep. A 24x7 mobile facility backed up with insurance can be an effective intervention in health care.

The possible entry of global players in this field will sound the death knell for inefficient institutions. A little hoarding, in the absence of government intervention, is better than no hoarding. There is no prize for not hoarding; there is a cost for not hoarding in terms of higher price.

The mute question is – is the coping strategy accessible to all? The government has taken many meaningful steps in empowering the people. Yet deprivation, marginalisation and social exclusion are hard facts of life. They cannot be wished away overnight. Always it is the weak insect that is inextricably trapped in the spiders’ web. Every institution seems to have a price.

There are issues like the Dzükou valley, inner line permit, Indo Myanmar border fencing which merit serious consideration of every section of the society. Shutdowns for corruption, the education system, public distribution system, health etc are no longer generating public interest as these used to be. Civil society organisations should do some introspection to understand the growing indifference of the public in such issues. The role of ad hoc JACs in dispute settlements needs to examined more closely.

The media owes it to the society to tell the end of the stories they are telling. Sensationalising the issues to draw the attention of the public should be followed up with the immediate outcome of the dialogues. Without that the credibility of the organisations involved, the media and the state government takes a beating.

B&B are tools for articulating dissent in any society and it will not be in our interest to discredit it without a viable alternative. It is like a fuse in electrical circuit and it should not be tempered with.

Concluded...