The Government of Haryana notification ordering the malls to be closed on Tuesdays is confusing. The notification has been issued by invoking a clause of the archaic Punjab Shops & commercial Establishments Act 1958. This law was introduced in those times to provide relief to the laboring classes in form of one day off from the grueling week long work. This and similar other laws were introduced in the name of social justice on the pattern of the then Soviet Russia.

The idea ostensibly was to safeguard the workers from the exploitative industrialists and shopkeepers. These laws were perverted into license and permit rai which promoted corruption and pushed Indian economy on the verge of bankruptcy. It appears the babus in the government administration, somehow, wish to perpetuate their slipping hold on the free enterprise by issuing such archaic notifications.

There is no sense in forcing the malls and other shops to close down on Tuesdays or Sundays. What needs to be ensured is that the workers are paid their dues and no exploitation takes place. The idea is to provide relief to the harried residents from the traffic congestions, noise and smoke pollution that the ever increasing numbers of cars generate. But it is defeated on the remaining weekdays when the city returns to its usual routine and the residents are once again put under “house arrest” as some residents rightly claim.

Moreover the traffic gets worst on weekends when, according to Surender Jetly, a resident of Heritage City, MG Road, “the entire MG Road stretch between Sikanderpur and IFFCO Chowk gets jammed with thousands of vehicles. We cannot get out of our houses."

While Surinder highlights the problem she also points to the solution quoting the example of Singapore’s Orchid Road. "When we shifted to Gurgaon 10 years back, it was very peaceful. Now we are in the midst of a poor copy of Singapore's Orchid Road minus its splendid boulevards. It takes anywhere from half an hour to 50 min- utes to cross the 2-km distance from Sikanderpur to HC. We wish the malls close on Sundays rather to give us some respite," Jetly said.

What is needed is that a solution should be found to the burgeoning traffic problem rather than placing curbs on the free enterprise.