The Kerala government has decided to take over the land and machinery belonging to the defunct Kunnathara textiles and hand it over to Kinfra following initiatives led by M.K. Raghavan, MP, who has been seeking the State government intervention to revive the fortunes of employees rendered jobless because of the closure of the textile mill.
Kunnathara textiles was liquidated by a Kerala High Court order in 2001 and two attempts to sell it had failed following protests from the public and the employees. The textile mill, established in 1975 by 6,000 unemployed youth with shares of Rs.5,000 each and with support of State government and KSIDC, was closed down on October 24, 1994.
The Industries Department has issued orders to facilitate the takeover of the land and machinery of the textiles.
“This is an Onam gift,” Mr. Raghavan said at a press conference on Saturday.
The MP said a multi-purpose industrial park would be established by Kinfra on the land. It was a memorandum to Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty submitted in January 2012 that culminated in the government decision to take over the textile and hand over its land and machinery to Kinfra with clearance from the High Court. The UDF government had appointed a committee to study how best the land and machinery could be utilised. The decision to take over the land was based on the committee’s recommendation.
The textile mill has 12 acres of land estimated to be worth Rs.10 crore and a 11,0000 sq ft building. It is situated nearly 300 metres away from State road and 10 km away from the national highway. Following the takeover, employees would get compensation ranging from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.2 lakh.
