Kerala - Alappuzha   

BRO a lifeline for people from Karthikapally

A. Harikumar

ALAPPUZHA: The General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been a haven for the poor `Kamukis' of Karthikapally taluk in Alappuzha ever since the BRO was formed in 1960. GREF consists of the workforce recruited exclusively for the BRO.

It was in the mid-Sxities, when the State in general and the taluk in particular experienced a slump in the economic sector, that the poor but robust farm labourers, goods boat rowers and dredging workers of Kayamkulam town and Muthukulam and Keerikkad villages in the taluk realised that GREF could provide them a job with a steady income and job security. Employees in GREF coined a name for them, Kamukis, taking alphabets from the names of their villages.

GREF was in need of healthy literate workers then. And the Kamukis fulfilled the yardsticks. Moreover, some of the officers in the recruiting wing of GREF happened to be from the same area. There were no tough tests for recruitment then and an officer could easily get a candidate selected. That was the beginning.

K.N. Panicker, a former administrative officer in GREF who leads a retired life at Muthukulam, says it is true that a large number of Class 1V employees of GREF are from the area. There were many officers from the area and they had always been sympathetic to the lower grade employees — often called pioneers.

Those recruited often helped their neighbours and relatives get jobs in GREF. The villagers called GREF workers `Pathankots' then — as a large number of the recruits had been sent for road construction in Pathankot. The number of people from Karthikapally taluk and its neighbouring areas working in the BRO comes to thousands now. They consist of not only pioneers, but also clerks, storekeepers and officers. Though GREF employees were not paid well earlier, now they get all benefits due to the Civil Services. A welfare organisation of those who retired from GREF is now functioning at Velanchira.

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