Imphal, September 29: Thanks to its frequency, bandhs and general strikes have lost its novelty in Manipur, but the losses incurred is immense.

For every day a bandh is imposed, each individual of the about 25 lakh population lose about Rs 36 per day including the newly born child.

Calculate this with the 25 population and the total amount lost is approximately Rs 9 crores on a single day of bandh.

According to calculations worked out by the Finance Department the number of bandhs in a single year leads to a loss of about Rs 3218 crore in a year which is more than double the annual Plan money that Manipur receives.

The full impact of any bandh, blockade and general strike is felt by the service sector and public administration of the Govt.Education too is always hit hard during such periods.

Transporters also suffer a loss of about Rs 17 crores in a single year due to bandhs, blockades and general strikes.

The loss incurred by hoteliers and businessmen in general in a single year due to the frequent bandhs in a single year is about Rs 486 crore.

Public administration too is hit extremely hard and the loss is pegged at about Rs 1476 crore in a single year.

Construction works/manufacturers suffer a loss of about Rs 800 crs.

Prof Amar Yumnam of the Department of Economics, MU said that bandhs do not affect the salaried class but those engaged in the farming sector, labourers and daily wage earners.

Such a situation has a social connotation as the gap between the haves and have nots can widen, he observed.

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