By Aparajita Gupta, IANS,
Kolkata : With business activities in West Bengal coming to a standstill following a 12-hour shutdown called by the state’s ruling Left Front, industry honchos Thursday expressed strong resentment, saying such agitations hit business and turned off investors.
“These shutdowns send wrong signals to investors,” Ambuja Realty Group chairman Harshvardhan Neotia told IANS. “These also affect daily wage earners.”
Life in the eastern state came to a grinding halt Thursday following the Left-sponsored shutdown against the fuel price hike, and the scenario is all set to be repeated Friday with the main opposition Trinamool Congress calling a similar half-day shutdown on the same issue.
Neotia said he accepted diverse political opinions were bound to clash and problems would arise out of this. “But the parties should find out alternative ways and means to voice their protests.”
Hemant Kanoria, chairman and managing director of infrastructure and finance company SREI, who returned from Singapore the night before the shutdowns, also voiced similar concerns.
“These shutdowns affect work to a certain extent. India is a democratic country and every party has the right to protest, but they should think about alternative ways of expressing their disapprovals,” he said.
Santanu Ghosh, chairman and managing director of Xenitis Group, described shutdowns and bandhs as “unfortunate realities” in Bengal, saying it would take his company more than a month to make up for the loss incurred on these two consecutive shutdowns.
The two-wheeler factory of Xenitis Group manufactures around 500 bikes a day. “We feel the pain and pinch of shutdowns very badly.”
Globsyn Technologies chief executive Bikram Dasgupta said he was shattered and depressed. “These shutdowns have become a regular affair in Bengal. I am worried about the youngsters of the state.”
Globsyn have kept their software department open for US-based clients but had to declare a holiday at its education department.