As Haryana’s administration sat on Monday to assess the damage in the aftermath of the Jat quota stir which played out violently in February, an important decision was taken. Insurance companies were asked to settle claims of people affected within 15 days.
Haryana administration met with the representatives of various state insurance companies and asked them to settle all claims at the earliest. The insurance companies in-turn has asked the owners of affected establishments to notify their insurance companies at the earliest so that a survey of the damage could be done immediately.
Why did the violence start?
The violence was started by the members of the Jat community who were demanding reservation quotas in government jobs and educational institutions. Experts point to lack of political representation and firm leadership in the community as the reason behind their anger.
What was damaged?
At least 30 people have been killed and nearly 200 injured. Over 10 Haryana districts were severely affected. Trade body Assocham estimated that the violence has dealt an estimated blow of Rs 18,000-Rs 20,000 crore by way of loss to public and private property and halting trade, industry, small business and transport.
Areas affected
The damage to public property like burning of buses, private vehicles, railways stations, police stations, malls and hotels, the trade , industry and other businesses have come to almost complete halt in most of the districts, barring parts of Gurgaon, Rewari and other few areas on the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway number 8. The trade and industry loss is maximum in the worst affected areas of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bahadurgarh, Hissar, Bhiwani, Jind, Gohana, Sonipat, Kaithal, Karnal and Panipat.
Haryana’s loss of face as investment destination
Several industries had come up in the past few years, including that of Suzuki on the Delhi-Rohtak highway. “A huge loss of confidence among investors to set up industries in this area would happen, making it imperative for the state administration not to lose further time in reining in the goonda and anti-social elements who are taking advantage of the Jat reservation agitation” said ASSOCHAM Secretary General Mr D S Rawat.
With a population of about three crore people, Haryana has so far been considered a progressive state with the Gross Domestic Product of about Rs 4,50,000 crore coming from industry, trade, agriculture , dairy farming and transport. It boasts of global business hubs like Gurgaon which houses top multi-national companies with back-office operations in IT and IT services and automobile giants like Maruti Suzuki. Incidentally, Maruti Suzuki has stopped production at its Gurgaon and Maneswar plants.
The collateral damage has been done to businesses and industries in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh besides a huge harassment to the common man, caught in the transit.
“Hundreds of trucks with thousands of tonnes of goods and hundreds of trains , both goods and passengers have been affected. The current violent agitation would reflect in the balance sheets of not only the corporates, traders but also the state exchequers”. A huge damage would be done textile exporters with facilities in Panipat which had made a name for itself for handlooms, carpets all over the world.
