Uttar Pradesh’s government order to shut shops by 7 pm : An alternate look

For a general urban resident, entertainment and outings usually begin in the evening, once the working father or couple is back home, the kids are well geared up and the weather is comparatively better than in the scorching afternoon. But that may all be about to change or come to a halt In Uttar Pradesh for a foreseeable future as the government orders the shops and malls to be shut by 7 pm while ordering establishments like restaurants to close by maximum 10 pm. Sighting power shortage as a reason behind this act, the government has ordered this formula to continue for around fifteen days after which monsoon is expected to happen and probably provide some relief to the citizens of the largest Indian state.

This labour department order issued on Sunday, exempts a few establishments like medicine shops, multiplexes, single screen cinemas and offices but with majority of amusement destinations being shut off way before the usual time slot, the general public does not seem too pleased with this decision of the government.

And thinking of it, their displeasure is quite justified for the reasons mentioned in the very first two lines of this article. But analysing this situation, I decided to look into the other side of the coin. That is, while people are busy criticizing and lashing out at this decision; is there any positive side to it? While the public may or may not really appreciate the positives here in comparison to what they are being deprived of with this order, nonetheless it should make for an interesting perspective.

There is a lot of power shortage all over the country (approximately 200 megawatt) and specially more in the state of Uttar Pradesh. With heavy power consumptions at homes and other commercial establishments like malls, restaurants etc. , power is bound to be cut off from area to area, location to location. By shutting down the shops and almost all commercial establishments by 7 pm, the excessive usage of power at places like malls, help decrease the power consumption which in turn could be well provided at the more needy houses in the state. While hangouts with friends and outings with family in the evening do matter, being in a comfortable home matters more, probably.

Secondly, this could and should lead to the usage of alternative sources of energy even though a bit of extra cost would have to be incurred. In fact, some centres in places like Noida are already planning to use certain such sources along with diesel run generators in the evening to keep their business ticking knowing very well that the evening slot is the peak slot for their business.

With the traders of the state definitely upset and planning to oppose the move from all ends, which stand do you take? The one with people opposing the order of the government or the one actually favouring it?