Ram Rahim’s conviction hits jobs, business in Sirsa

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 22

Hundreds of families have been suffering monetary losses after the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Among them are nearly 4,000 workers of more than 20 manufacturing units on dera land, owners of these units, over 500 distributors of MSG products and workers of malls, cinema hall, hospital, restaurants, hotels, petrol pumps and farms owned by the dera.

“We prepared MSG pickles, spices, mineral water, candies, biscuits and aloe vera on contract. Our units have been sealed and bank accounts frozen after conviction. Workers have been rendered jobless and we have been sitting idle,” said a manufacturer.

He said MSG marketing had an annual turnover of between Rs 120 crore and Rs 150 crore, which had been lost now. A total of 147 persons working for Hakikat Entertainment Private Limited had also been rendered jobless.

Hira Lal Sharma, Sirsa president of Haryana Pradesh Vyapar Mandal, said local traders would lose over Rs 100 crore annually. “An amount of over Rs 10 crore is stuck with manufacturing units. Traders used to supply raw material to factories. We are not sure when they will get their money back,” he said.

Pawan Kumar, a DHVBN official, said the power bills of the dera and its units used to be between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 2 crore per month. “We are yet to recover Rs 40 lakh. Power usage has come down since August 25 and we will be able to bill them on minimum charges in the future,” he said.

Baljeet Singh, Assistant Divisional Engineer, Railways, Sirsa, said trains used to be overloaded on Saturdays and Sundays. That was a thing of the past, he added.

Autorickshaw drivers had been badly hit. “Nearly 400 autorickshaws used to ply between the dera and railway station and bus stand. We are sitting idle now. Some of us have quit this profession and started manual labour on daily wages, ” said Manoj, an autorickshaw driver.

Sources said daily wages of labourers had come down from Rs 450 to Rs 250, though conviction was not the only reason. Demonetisation and GST had also played a role in diminishing job avenues.

Bank accounts frozen after conviction

We prepared MSG pickles, spices, mineral water, candies, biscuits and aloe vera on contract. Our units have been sealed and bank accounts frozen after conviction. Workers have been rendered jobless and we have been sitting idle. — A manufacturer