VALPARAI: Concerned over the migration of estate workers to the plains seeking jobs, Valparai Taluk Merchants Association (VTMA) has requested the Government to take immediate steps to provide two acres of land to every employee who retires from estate work to prevent exodus.
Distribution of land to estate workers on lease would help them cultivate flowers for the export market and vegetables, the association stressed.
A meeting of various trade associations, welfare clubs and trade unions convened by VTMA under the aegis of ‘Save Valparai’ recently asked the Government to take immediate steps as the situation in Valparai was worsening everyday.
VTMA president A.T. Selvin presided over the meeting. Members of various bodies, including Residency Club, Medicine Merchants Association, Financiers Association, Jewellery Merchants Association, Market Merchants Association, Auto Drivers Association, Tempo Drivers Association, Taxi Drivers Association, Cable TV Owners Association and Tailors Association attended the meeting.
As hundreds of estate workers were leaving Valparai along with their family members to Coimbatore and Tirupur and other areas because of stagnant wages, the meeting asked the Government to seriously look into the matter.
“If the Government gives two acres of land for farm activity, workers who retire from estates will settle down in the farms by constructing small houses. This will also improve the economy of the small town,” the association said.
The meeting urged the Government to establish big industries to provide employment to the educated youth. “The Government should start a factory here on its own or it should give land to others to start industries,” it said.
The association asked the authorities concerned to retrieve the land encroached upon by estate managements. The Save Valparai movement has decided to launch a series of agitations pressing these demands.
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