Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Strong steps to reopen closed plantations

Special Correspondent

SEEKING A SOLUTION: The Fifth Plantation Standing Committee meeting in progress in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan chaired the meeting.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Saturday assured plantation workers that the Government will work on a war footing to get the closed plantations in the State reopened.

He was addressing a meeting of the Plantation Standing Committee here.

The Government had already started discussions with individual plantation owners to examine their problems. They would receive all help from the Government to revive the plantations, he said.

He blamed the Union Government's economic policies for the crisis in the plantation sector. The Centre had been suitably apprised of the corrective steps required. Based on a comprehensive report from the State, the Union Government had announced certain relief measures to the plantations. The plantation owners should utilise these and resume operations in their estates, he said.

Minister for Labour P.K. Gurudasan said 22 plantations remained shut. The owners of 10 of these had agreed to restart the operations. The State Government would offer concessions in power tariff to these plantations.

After the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had come to power in the State, three plantations had resumed operations. The plantations currently closed were spread over an area of nearly 10,000 hectares. He asked the owners of these plantations to examine how they could get work started. If they did not respond positively, the Government would be forced to take steps to protect the interests of the workers, he warned.

Ministers T.M. Thomas Isaac, K.P. Rajendran and Mullakkara Ratnakaran spoke at the meeting Representative of plantation owners and all trade unions attended.

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