Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

KSKTU rules out bid to block harvest

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU), farm labour wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has neither blocked harvest nor acted against the interest of the farmers in Kuttanad, its general secretary C.T. Krishnan has said.

Mr. Krishnan told reporters here on Wednesday that Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy’s attempt to blame the union for crop loss in Kuttanad due to the summer rain and the allegation that the union was not permitting the deployment of harvest machines were politically motivated. The allegation that farmers had to secure permission from the union offices for setting out harvest machines was baseless. All decisions regarding the harvest were made by the Industrial Relations Committee (IRC) comprising representatives of all trade unions. The IRC, which met in February, decided to use machines in places where there was a scarcity of farm labourers. The campaign for extensive use of machines had been unleashed by vested interests, he said.

The summer rain upset the schedule and the paddy fields were submerged. Machines could be deployed only after the rain. While the UDF leaders were voicing concern over the plight of the farmers, they had not taken any step to redress their grievances while in power. The LDF government had taken steps to provide relief to the farmers and also procure the paddy. Minister for Agriculture Mullakkara Ratnakaran visited the affected areas to take stock of the situation. The area under paddy cultivation had increased by 60,000 acres and the yield had also increased. It was the rain which played spoilsport, he said. He accused the UDF of trying to gain political mileage out of the miseries of the farmers and campaigning against the CPI(M) and the union. The union was equally concerned about the problems of the farmers and the labourers.

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