Offices, factories, schools shut in TN; bustling Chennai grinds to a halt
CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Major auto and IT firms, the engines of Tamil Nadu’s economic prosperity, remained shut or deployed emergency work plans on Tuesday, a day after its chief minister J Jayalalithaa died of prolonged illness, leaving the state paralysed and in weeklong mourning.
From schools, offices and shops to the factories of Ford, Nissan and Hyundai, everything remained closed in a state where Jayalalithaa was lionised by millions of her doting and often hysterical supporters. Top IT firms, including Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), also remained closed.
The hustle-bustle at the airport too was missing, with empty pre-paid taxi counters and hardly any vehicles in the parking lot and the autorickshaw stands.
“Amma is no more,” said 52-year-old Rameshan, a taxi operator, who surfaced after I had waited for more than half an hour making inquiries about transport into the city. “It is a tough time for us.
The roads all along the route from the airport to the hotel near Anna Salai, Chennai’s main thoroughfare, were deserted. Busy commercial centres like Saidapet and Guindy were also quiet with shops, restaurants and business establishments closed. At several junctions, people were seen pitching tents, where huge portraits of Jayalalithaa were put up and garlanded.
Much of the shutdown across Tamil Nadu was out of respect for the departed leader but some also remained closed on fears of violence by her grieving admirers.
“All our offices are closed in Chennai today. We have invoked BCP to ensure seamless service delivery for our customers’ mission critical operations,” a TCS spokesperson told HT.
It wasn’t immediately clear when business could return to normal. Most big businesses said they were hoping to reopen soon.
“It is too early to say. If there is a bandh for three days, it will have an impact as in most bandh situations… the auto industry is not insulated from such situations,” Vishnu Mathur, director general of auto lobby, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), told HT.
Auto-part makers were also keeping their fingers crossed.
“I presume the state machinery will ensure that production continues and the industry is not affected… However, if the state or city comes to a standstill for a prolonged duration, then there will be an impact,” Vinnie Mehta, said director general of Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India.
Chennai and its suburbs account for at least 30% of the turnover of India’s $58 billion automobile industry, industry figures show. A smaller auto components sector also has a major presence in and around the Tamil Nadu capital.
Much of the credit for building up the state as a manufacturing hub with foreign investments goes to Jayalalithaa, a six-time chief ministers who fought economic hardship as a child to become a popular film star before foraying into politics.
She also helped forge a strong IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) industry in a state with the country’s largest economy.
Nasscom, a top IT industry lobby, said businesses were closed for a day as a mark of respect for the departed leader.