Kerala - Alappuzha   

Sudhakaran joins issue with Ramesh

G. Sudhakaran

ALAPPUZHA: Reacting to Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh’s statement that he should check facts before making accusations against the Centre, Coir Minister G. Sudhakaran on Tuesday said that it was Mr. Ramesh who should check out facts before accusing him of playing politics in the coir industry.

In a statement here, Mr. Sudhakaran said that while Kerala’s coir exporters were reaping profits from the increase in exports, the reflection of these profits was not seen in the lives of the labourers in the industry.

Pointing out such facts should not be construed as playing politics or as making wild allegations, he said.

“There is no politics or anything against the Congress or in favour of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in what I said. I did what the representative of a pro-people Government should do. Though coir exports crossed Rs.605 crore last year, the ordinary labourers in that industry are migrating to other sectors due to the low wages paid to them,” he said.

Mr. Sudhakaran, repeating that the Centre was indeed neglecting the coir industry, said that the Union government’s failure in applying minimum purchase prices and export prices for coir led to a grave crisis in the industry.

Though the State Government and coir traders repeatedly brought this fact to the notice of the Centre, no action was taken.

“As a Minister, I have submitted four memoranda to the Centre asking them to review this fact and also to resume the system of rebate for coir products. There has been no response. The Centre has not made available details of the Rs.25-crore project for modernisation of looms. As far as we know, that project is being implemented in a very impractical manner. The Centre has so far given only Rs.14 crore to the coir sector in Alappuzha, while the State Government, using its limited resources, has spent more than Rs.75 crore for the sector across Kerala. These are the facts,” Mr. Sudhakaran said.

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Sudhakaran joins issue with Ramesh

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