Demanding the withdrawal of the ‘anti-development’ regulations and restrictions on the construction sector, the Confederation of Construction Organisations launched a three-day strike in Kozhikode district on Monday.
The members of the confederation staged a dharna in front of the Collectorate raising their demands as part of their State-wide agitation. They called upon the government to declare construction sector an ‘industry’ for the welfare of those in the sector.
Confederation State working chairman R.K. Mani Shankar who inaugurated the dharna alleged that the regulations imposed on the sector was doubling the problems of several entrepreneurs in the sector. It could not be tolerated anymore as it was a fight for survival, he said.
Confederation leaders who addressed the dharna said that the entrepreneurs working in the sector were being labelled as ‘mafia groups.’ The discrimination would come to an end only with the support of the government and the sector should be declared as an industry, they said.
The government should think of the formation of an alternative redress cell and withdraw the Kerala Real Estate (Development and regulation) Bill, 2013.
The confederation leaders said some nationalised banks were showing a very unreceptive attitude towards the timely release of funds for the completion of various projects.
Confederation district chairman C. Vijayakumar presided over the protest meet. Representatives of nine major organisations, including the Kerala Builders Association, Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CRESAI), Lorry Owners’ Welfare Association and the Licensed Engineers and Supervisors Federation, addressed the protest meet.
