Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Offices in and around the national capital saw a thin turnout Thursday as many companies had declared a half-day ahead of the Ayodhya land dispute verdict. Some companies even opted for a holiday.

Consumer electronics giant LG, telecom major Airtel, and a host of Information Technology (IT) companies were among those who declared Thursday as a half-day, while attendance else where was thin.

“There was a thin attendance today due to apprehension about any untoward incidents taking place after the verdict, I had to even let go of the women staff at around 3.30 pm, due to security concerns,” said Uttam Bhagat of Impressico Software Solutions.

As a result of the low turn out in offices roads were less congested and the Metro service saw less than half the normal number of passengers on a week day. Some companies also allowed their staffers to work from their homes.

“We declare an off for Sep 30. For any crucial work, you are free to work from home,” the Indian arm of US software major Microsoft Corp said in a missive to its employees across the country.

It was also a coincidence that the banking industry, which employs a large number of people across the country, had no public dealing Thursday for the half-yearly closing Sep 30.

According to the human resources head of another company, which has a small office in the capital and another large one at Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, the timings had already been changed in view of the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

“Since Monday, we are already operating from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. to avoid the rush hour during the Games. Today, since the Ayodhya verdict was expected after 3 p.m. or so, we had asked our staff to leave by 2 p.m.,” she said.

Sandhya Jain, who works for a media outfit in South Delhi and often takes the Metro from her residence in Gurgaon to reach office, easily found a seat, despite starting at the peak hour, a little before 9 a.m.

“Normally, the Metro is packed around this time. I often have to skip a train since it is sometimes impossible to board. But today I was not only able to board easily, but also managed to get a seat for myself,” she said.

Even the stock markets, it appeared, was quiet ahead of the court verdict.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), opened at 19,931.49 points, and in about 15 minutes was ruling marginally higher by 24.97 points, or 0.13 percent, at 19,981.31 points over the previous close at 19,956.34 points.

A three-member Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court delivered its verdict on the 61-year old lawsuit over the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi land dispute, ruling that the place where the Babri mosque in Ayodhya stood before it was razed by Hindu mobs in 1992 was indeed the birthplace of Ram revered by millions. Many had feared the verdict could trigger tensions along religious lines.