The State government will re-start providing free ration and other benefits to the workers of the Bonacaud estate near here.
The government will also initiate steps to take over the estate, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the Assembly on Monday.
He was replying to a submission on the issue moved by K. S. Sabarinadhan.
He said the workers had not been given gratuity and PF benefits since 1998.
Discontinued
The State government had been giving free ration to the families, but this was discontinued in October 2014 when the estate reopened.
The estate has since then been dysfunctional and workers there neither got salaries nor free ration.
In his reply, Labour Minister Shibu Baby John said the government had in principle agreed to take over the Bonacaud estate.
However, all legal issues needed to be looked into.
The government would on Tuesday organise an inspection at Bonacaud by the Chief Inspector of Plantations.
A meeting of the plantation relief committee would also be called soon.
The government has already spend Rs.33 lakh for reconstruction of the workers’ quarters at Bonacaud.
It has also distributed learning material, aid for higher education, drinking water, and financial aid for the marriage of women, the Minister added.
Heritage cities
The State government has written to the Centre asking that seven cities in Kerala including Guruvayoor and Kalady be included on the list of heritage cities, Urban Affairs Minister Manjalamkuzhy Ali told the Assembly. He was replying to a submission moved by P.A. Madhavan.
When the Centre announced the Amruth scheme for heritage cities in June 2015, not a single city from Kerala figured on the list.
Only cities in the ‘hridaya’ scheme of 2014 were included on the list for the Amruth scheme.
Kerala had registered its protest as soon as the scheme was announced and had asked that its cities too be considered for the scheme, Mr. Ali added.
State seeks inclusion of seven cities including Guruvayoor and Kalady on list of heritage cities.
