Great Indian Highway Robbery: What Are its Costs?

By Vikas Dhoot & Mishita Mehra

People in big metros are fuming after petrol prices were raised again last week. But spare a thought for the people of Manipur. Petrol in the north-eastern state is retailing at Rs 200 a litre; the price in Delhi is just over Rs 68 a litre. The black market price of LPG cylinders is Rs 2,000 in Manipur, compared to the subsidised price of around Rs 405.

In fact, all supplies, essential commodities as well as emergency medical supplies, are drying up in Manipur, thanks to a 103 -day and counting economic blockade by Kuki tribals and then, Naga rebels. The blockade has cut off two major national highways running across the state.

Manipur's local inflation rate, if measured, would resemble that of Zimbabwe's when that country hit rock bottom. On the 100th day of the blockade, Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh warned of harsh action against protesters.

Earlier, Union home minister P Chidambaram urged rebel groups to call off their protests. The blockade continues. "The protesters won't listen to a single excuse, even if we are carrying perishable commodities," says Gurinder Pal Singh, former president, All India Motor Transport Congress.

Why is it so easy, in the north-east, or in the rest of India (think of the Gujjar protests in Rajasthan or the Telangana agitation in Andhra or the Kashmir disturbances) to block highways, which are national economic arteries? What explains the great Indian highway robbery, for that's what highway blockades amount to, robbing people of essentials at affordable prices?

Legal Tangle
IDFC's private equity arm head Vikram Pant once said, "In India, there are laws. In China, there is order." The Indian state's response to the hijacking of highways and railroads can at best be described as farcical. It is not for a lack of laws that the government is found wanting in such cases.

The Constitution guarantees the right to free movement of goods and services; a 1956 law on national highways makes obstructing them a non-bailable offence with up to five years of jail time; a 2002 law on control of highways empowers officials to take police help and prevent blockades or damages to highways.

So what stops the administration from acting? Vishnu Sudarshan, partner at law firm JSA, says there has been only one occasion when the laws were invoked through a court, in 2003.

A 2001 assassination attempt on Gorkhaland movement leader Subhash Ghisingh triggered an indefinite bandh around Darjeeling, hitting traffic on National Highway 31, which serves as the 'life-line' of the small hill state Sikkim.

While the Sikkim government kept its part of the highway cleared, the West Bengal government couldn't, leaving thousands of tourists in Sikkim stranded. Chief minister Pawan Chamling urged the Centre and the Left-run West Bengal government to clear the mess. But the unrest persisted.