A statewide bandh call in Assam incurs a total loss of Rs 6,790 lakh per day while the State has faced 13 similar bandhs in 2018.
Assam Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary informed the House during the ongoing State Assembly session here on Monday.
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In reply to a starred question raised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Khumtai constituency Mrinal Saikia, Minister Patowary said, “A total of 13 statewide bandhs have been called in 2018 so far along with 16 bandhs in local areas.”
Patowary, while replying to the query on behalf of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also holds the Home department, said, “As per Directorate of Economics and Statistics, the State has incurred loss of Rs 6790 lakh per day due to a bandh call.”
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patowary further said on the floor of the State Assembly that the State Government had framed a draft Bill to ban bandhs in Assam. The draft Bill, which has been named as ‘The Assam Prohibition and Prevention of Bandh Bill, 2017’, is still under the consideration of the Government, he added.
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He stated that the Gauhati High Court, while hearing a PIL lodged by one Arun Pathak in 2012 where the petitioner had sought a ban on Assam bandhs, had asked the Assam Government to expedite the process of framing law against bandh.
The Gauhati High Court, while closing the case on March 5, 2017, had instructed the State Government to pass the Bill as early as possible.