THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Landless tribal families in Wayanad will soon receive land as promised by the Government, Revenue Minister K. M. Mani told the Assembly on Tuesday.

Replying to a submission from the CPI(M) MLA A. K. Balan, the Minister said the Government had identified nearly 25,000 tribal families in Wayanad district to receive land.

Of them, nearly 13,000 have no land of their own, while the remaining families have less than 10 cents of land each. An extent of 9,589 hectares of land had been identified for allotment to them, he said.

In Chemeni in Kasaragod district, 182 tribal families would get land immediately. He said `land for landless tribal people' was at the top of the Government's agenda.

Flouting CRZ norms

Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, moving another submission, alleged that big hoteliers were purchasing coastal stretches in several tourist destinations in the State and even putting coastal roads out of bounds for the fishermen community.

The people subsisting on fishing activities were getting alienated from the coast. He alleged that the hoteliers were flouting the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms while building tourism facilities.

Minister for Self-Government Kutty Ahamed Kutty said instances of CRZ violations had come to the Government's notice.

The local bodies have been instructed to demolish structures put up by hoteliers flouting the norms.

The secretary of Vizhinjam panchayat has been suspended recently for not carrying out the Government's instructions, he said.

Fisheries Minister Dominic Presentation chipped in with the observation that hoteliers purchasing coastal stretches from fishermen were misusing the special exemption given to the fishing community in putting up housing structures in the banned area.

Cashew workers' plight

Kerala Congress (Pillai) leader R. Balakrishna Pillai, making a submission, said cashew factory owners in Kollam district were not paying the minimum wages to workers.

He urged the Labour Department to ensure the payment of the approved wages to the cashew workers.

Labour Minister Babu Divakaran said fresh troubles were brewing in the cashew sector and, one after the other, the factories were pulling down their shutters.

He said the Government had drafted a notification for wage revision in the sector and would do everything possible to keep the cashew industry going.

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