The shutdown or ‘Bandh’ called across India yesterday to protest the recent Supreme Court ruling on quotas for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities saw a limited response in the states of Punjab and Haryana. Daily activities largely remained unaffected except for some partial shutdown reported from a few places in Punjab.
Banking services, educational institutions and businesses operated as usual throughout the two states. However, heavy police deployment was visible especially in the SC-dominated districts of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur in Punjab where activists unsuccessfully tried urging traders to shut shops in support.
Public transport was operational and traffic moved smoothly on roads and highways of Punjab and Haryana. No disruption of rail services was reported from anywhere. The situation in the union territory of Chandigarh also remained normal with no untoward incidents taking place.
Exempting emergency services, the Bandh call had received backing from Left parties, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress, RJD and BSP who are opposing the top court’s ruling permitting state governments to define subgroups within SC/ST categories and introduce the creamy layer criteria for quotas. But, it failed to impact daily life significantly in the northern states due to weak adherence.
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