MANGALORE: Political parties in Dakshina Kannada are bracing themselves for launching an agitation against the alleged "mismanagement" of the affairs of Central Arecanut Marketing and Processing Cooperative Limited.

If the political parties, especially the Congress, were to have their way till the run up to the election to the board, which is yet to be announced, they would have the board dissolved and get an administrator appointed.

At least, this is what the Congress leader B. Ramanatha Rai, who is leading a farmers' movement against the cooperative board, said.

Support

Mr. Rai said this at the first of a series of taluk-level agitations that was held at Bantwal on Tuesday. However, he was unwilling to give it political colour and said growers from all parts of the district, mainly the arecanut belt of Belthangady, Bantwal, Puttur, Vittla, Sullia and parts of Mangalore taluk, had expressed their support to the movement. He claimed that grower leaders belonging to all parties are with him and hence it was unwise to call it a political movement.

In the coming days, Mr. Rai said, the movement would receive more support as growers from Shimoga, Sagar, parts of Kerala, Uttara Kannada, Udupi will join hands with it.

After the Bantwal meeting, the leaders left for Kasargod where a series of meetings will be held for the next two days.

Gaining momentum

The movement appears to be gathering momentum as the "rebel" board members, Ivan D'Souza (former Cashew Board Chairman) and Pramod Kumar Rai (former Managing Director of CAMPCO who relinquished the post in protest against the alleged mismanagement), have joined hands with the political leaders claiming that they have in their possession documentary evidence of the "various acts" that have led to CAMPCO accruing loss.

Mr. D'Souza told the Bantwal meeting that CAMPCO has lost over Rs. 100 crores because of the wrong decisions taken by some of the board members.

Growers betrayed

He said CAMPCO board, headed by L.N. Kudoor and the Bantwal MLA, B. Nagaraja Shetty, had betrayed the growers in a deal concerning gunny bags.

The farmers were forced to lose money indirectly and without their knowledge. There were discrepancies in the export of arecanut to Pakistan also, he alleged. The former MP, Vinayakumar Sorake, said the leaders of the movement had met the Chief Minister of Kerala, Oomen Chandy, the Union Minister for Programme Implementation and Statistics, Oscar Fernandes, the Chairman of the National Administrative Reforms Committee and the former Chief Minister, M. Veerappa Moily, the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, in this connection and if needed, the matter will be represented to the Prime Minister.

The leaders lauded the MP, B. Janardhana Poojary, for raising the issue of package to arecanut growers in the Rajya Sabha.

Dismissal sought

Speaking to The Hindu after the meeting at Bantwal, Mr. Ramanatha Rai said the growers were pressing for the dismissal of the board and were seeking appointment of an administrator till the new board takes office. He said the general body meeting of CAMPCO would be held in Mangalore on September 30.

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