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Bijoy Ghosh

Waiting time: People waiting for buses outside a bus terminus in Chennai on Monday. Buses stayed off road and the public had to depend on autos and share-autos to reach their offices. —

R. Balaji
Archana Venkat
T.E. Raja Simhan

Chennai, Oct. 1 Despite the bandh being called off by the ruling party, DMK and its allies and most of Chennai decided to take the day off.

The roads were deserted and traffic was sparse on Monday morning, most shops, including retail chains, business establishments and educational institutions were closed or reported poor attendance.

The DMK and its allies, the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA), had called for a bandh on Monday demanding the early implementation of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project. However, on Sunday the Supreme Court restrained them from going ahead with the bandh following a special leave petition filed by the AIADMK.

The DPA then announced that its members would go on a daylong fast.

Business houses that had decided to close ahead of the weekend were not able to announce the change on Sunday. They decided to take the day off and compensate next Saturday.

According to an official press release it was a normal working day at the Secretariat with the staff reporting for duty. The Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, and senior officials held the routine round of review meetings and discussions.

Earlier, inaugurating the daylong fast, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, said that he supported the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project for the economic and social benefits that it would give to the people of the State. The political parties that were now opposing the project, the AIADMK and BJP, had on earlier occasions supported it, he pointed out.

Offices of top IT majors remained closed with many of them planning a compensatory working day later this week. An official at Satyam Computer Services said though the company was closed on Monday, some department heads attended office. The company strengthened security around its campuses in the city and outskirts, including facilities along the IT corridor.

Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Accenture and Polaris too declared holidays. In Cognizant Technology Solutions employees who could not make it to work on Monday would work on another day, said a company official.

Some IT professionals were also reported to be working from home and Internet cafes. Meanwhile, BPO companies could not afford to close their operations, as it was the monthly closure time. Though, the company declared an off for the day shift employees, about 70 per cent of them managed to come to work, according to Mr Vardhman Jain, Managing Director of Perot Systems. Employees also worked on Sunday (September 30) to ease the work burden.

Mr Adi Saravanan, Founder and President, Allsec Technologies, said the ‘bandh-like’ situation did not affect the company. BPOs like Allsec with a majority of clients in the US generally start active operations only in evenings (when it is morning in the US). Allsec’s operations would start in full swing in the evening shift, Mr Saravanan pointed out.

Retail companies such as Odyssey, Lifestyle and Titan, which usually work round the week, downed their shutters. “Monday is a dull day but this time it is also beginning of the month when sales are high,” said an official from Odyssey.

Landmark — retailer of books, music and gifts — however, chose to operate two of its three stores in the city. Grocery retailer Subhiksha kept all its stores open. Most retailers said they would start operations post 6 p.m.

Government organisations like nationalised banks, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and the Chennai Port Trust reported normal operations.

More Stories on : Economy | Politics | Tamil Nadu

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