Kerala Cashew units a hard nut to crack

KOLLAM: The factories under the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation have remained  shut for the last six months after the wage revision while over 75 percent  of factories in the private sector have started functioning with revised wages.

The closure has directly affected the families of around 16,000 employees while the trade unions which demanded the hike have left them in the lurch.

The workers got less than 10 days of employment  in the factories owned by the Cashew  Corporation in the last six months as its 30 factories  have been shut indefinitely. The corporation which cites “insufficient funds”  is awaiting a direction from the government to reopen them.

Meanwhile,  the trade unions that are also members of the director board of KSCDC,  remain silent while the corporation had not even paid the provident fund or the ESI  for the past one year and gratuity for the last five years.

“The board members raise their voice against the misdeeds of the corporation, but the issues of the corporation should not be mixed  with those of the employees. The corporation should resume its operations to alleviate the sufferings of its employees,” said ex-MLA  J. Mercykuttyamma, Kerala Cashew Workers’ Centre president.

In a case related to corruption at the KSCDC,  Principal Secretary P. H. Kurian in his report had said the corporation could not even reduce the loss incurred though  the government had provided up to 25 percent of its turnover as financial support.