Andhra Pradesh – The Hotbed of Protests

If there is one State in india that is buzzing with rallies, protests, and strikes andhra pradesh leads every other State. vizag steel plant Employees and Trade Unions are nearing a full year of their strike to stop the privatization of the vizag Steel Plant. Thousands of farmers who gave their lands for the capital City Construction have recently finished their walkathon covering a few hundred kilometers demanding amaravati to be declared as the only capital of andhra pradesh, their protest just crossed 600 days. The State government employees are having their rounds of persuasion and negotiations requesting the chief minister to fulfill his poll promise of abolishing the CPS. andhra pradesh debt is over 6 lakh crores and recently we saw the impassionate appeal by our Andhra MPs in parliament requesting Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for financial aid. Amidst all this fiasco and chaos, we have the State Govt of andhra pradesh very clear and sorted with its Priorities. Their topmost priority, for now, remains movie tickets. Yes, you have heard it right. From Mutton Shops to fish marts to State-Run Liquor Kiosks, the ap Govt has now set its eyes on movie Tickets Pricing.

Oh My Policymaker – Get your Priorities Right, Please

The govt has to understand that Movies are just optional, they serve as mere entertainment unlike the essentials and significant areas such as Infrastructure, Public health, and education systems, Social Security, etc. These were the scenes from the last month - A Joint collector in krishna district is personally visiting movie theatres to see if the movie theatre and the premises have met all the necessary requirements. The guntur Collectorate has given orders to the MROs asking to keep a strict vigil at the movie theatres and the Mandal Level Officials were even patrolling early morning as early as 5 AM just to make sure there were no fan shows, also popularly called benefit show for the impatient passionate cine-goers. The State government has passed GO stating as “urgent” to look into the price controlling of movie tickets and for the last few weeks, the entire State Machinery is on a serious mission to bring the movie theatres and ticket pricing under its control.
Movies go synonymous with telugu people; the telugu people are the highest moviegoers in the country. But this might change soon, at least in the case of Andhra Pradesh. In december 2021, the ap government seized and closed over 50 theatres while another 150 plus theatres closed themselves for not being able to screen movies at prices that do not even cover the theatre’s daily operational expenses in Andhra Pradesh.  The  AP  Government has given a price list for various movie theatres depending on the geography (Panchayat/Town/City) etc and type of Theatre (Single Screen/Multiplexes/AC/Non AC). The ticket price in a panchayat was as low as Rs 5. And the Govt’s reasoning was to make people happy and provide them with a movie experience at an affordable price. Before we look at the rationale of this policy, one thing that shocks the average common citizen is the urgency with which the ap government is so much invested in dealing with ticket prices.

What does Constitution say?

Firstly, india is not a Complete Socialist/Communist led economy – it is a mixed economy, with complete freedom guaranteed by the Constitution to any citizen to undertake trade/business in all eligible sectors. Article  19(1)(g)  guarantees  to  all  citizens  the  right  to  practice  any  profession,  or  to  carry  on  any occupation, trade or business. Under Article 19(6), however, the state is not prevented from making a law imposing, in the interests of the general public, reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the above right. In  this  pertinent  case,  Movie  Tickets  Sale  is  neither exclusively restricted to  Public  Sector nor comes under the Essential Commodities and Services. In a free-market economy, the prices of most of the goods and services are determined by the market forces  –  simply,  put demand and supply.  Be it from our Agricultural products to petrol Diesel to Airline Tickets to Real Estate, almost every industry/sector in the free market is determined by the market forces.  “Government can only create rules and laws, but cannot become itself a monopoly or obstruct trade or restrict market forces except for those industries that fall under governments exclusive ambit”.

What is ap Govt missing?

If tax evasion is the problem – then the government must address that issue rather than taking over the entire business of movie ticket pricing to itself. The govt has all the resources and authority to identify such persons/businessmen who evaded taxes and take necessary corrective action rather than penalizing the entire industry. Also when people are buying the ticket at increased prices on the first day, one needs to simply remember the basic principle of a contract – the audience is not being forced to buy the tickets or not even cheated. With the full awareness and knowledge of increased ticket prices, the audience still chose to buy tickets because they like to have that service and experience.  There is no grey area or shady business in this contract – There is demand and it is being served. Even the Railways have differential ticketing prices for passengers ready to pay a premium price, Premium Tatkal has dynamic pricing. All this is being done under the purview of the government.

Covid has already disrupted the livelihoods of millions of people all over the World and andhra pradesh is  no  exemption. The movie  industry in  Andhra Pradesh is not  a huge  conglomerate  worth billions  of dollars. Relatively, the telugu movie industry is small compared to the humongous IT industry, Retail Sector, banking industry, Tourism and Hospitality industry etc. When all other industries are getting an olive branch to recover from the slump because of the Covid, unfortunately the telugu movie industry is being pushed  under  the  bus;  the  actions  and  government’s  policies  point  so.  If  govt  only cherry picks movie Tickets, it is definitely setting a bad precedent.

The ap govt is swift in shutting down the theatres even for missing any of the smallest necessary requirements and the government cannot be blamed for carrying out the rightful thing. But what about the state of roads in andhra pradesh, hundreds of lives are lost on a daily basis because of very bad roads and State  Highways?  Unofficial  reports  suggest  that  over  40  people  died  in  Tirupati  Ruia  Government hospital when oxygen supply was disrupted? During the Covid, many hospitals charged lakhs of rupees for just  day to treat Covid – Some corporate Hospitals exploited the Public during Covid 19. oxygen Cylinders,  Critical  Life  Saving  Medicines,  Hospital  Beds  etc  have  been  sold  in  Black  market  for exorbitant prices. Many corporate Schools were making parents cough up heavy school fee even when students were taught occasionally online while the academic year never really took off. When important and essential services such as education and health are being exploited by few corporates, what did the government do? Despite government prescribed rates/tariffs to corporate hospitals during the Covid, nowhere it has been enforced. The Govt hardly sent its staff and utilized its machinery to keep the prices in check. And now when the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly and Covid 19 cases are surging, it’s high time the govt sorts its priorities and is well prepared to handle the looming Omicron threat.

Logic behind Ticket Pricing

Will the government decide prices of mobiles and laptops, will it decide the rates of cement, will it fix the prices of IPL tickets, will the government decide the tariffs of agricultural products, and will it decide the price  of  petrol  and  diesel?  If  not,  why  then  only  Movie  Tickets  in  Andhra  Pradesh?  An  industry  like telugu movie industry provides not just a source of entertainment, but also livelihood to lakhs of people directly and indirectly. So, what logic went behind fixing ticket prices in Andhra Pradesh? A decision by the state cannot be taken unilaterally and arbitrarily. What was the basis for deciding a ticket price as low as Rs 5 in a Gram Panchayat? What criteria were used for the movie industry? What industry standards were followed in fixing this Price? Which Stakeholders were engaged in deciding this pricing? Also the logic of govt’s intervention on fixing movie ticket prices because many people watch it does not sound logical. More than the Movies, people watch lot of cricket, especially the IPL every year. Does the govt have any right to decide the IPL cricket ticket prices?

A Govt must be a facilitator; it must curb illegal and unfair practices which is bad business. But beyond that in a free market, it is always better to leave it to the market forces. venezuela tried to do something where it tried to fix prices for everything and we all know what happened in venezuela  – its economy collapsed and soon went bankrupt and people went rogue. The Govt must prioritize its policies over petty politics. andhra pradesh is still a state without a proper functional capital city paralyzed with a deficit Budget, ever growing debts and lack of investments. The govt should not make a mistake by mistreating  telugu cinema industry with disdain and treating them lightly, instead it must see the bigger picture. The cinema  ticket  pricing by Govt  might  send a  very bad  message  to the corporate  Sector in  general  and other industries & sector might also be apprehensive of investing in andhra pradesh, which in turn will hurt the economy. A State has no Monopoly in a free market; don’t kill Good business because of Bad Policies. Last but not the least, the andhra pradesh public will have a happier sankranti if the government can buy the crop from the Paddy farmers at better prices and reduce the bus ticket prices during the festive season.

Written by Mr. Burra naga Trinadh

The Author is alumnus of the Lee Kuan Yew school of Public Policy & IRMA and works in development sector space.



 



For more interesting updates wa click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel

Find out more:

SIBY JEYYA

07/01/2022 01:40 PM