It was only after getting routed in the Assembly election that the Congress became aware of the crisis gripping the cashew industry in the State, INTUC State president R. Chandrashekaran has said.
“The step taken by the LDF government to reopen public and cooperative sector cashew factories is commendable.” At a press conference here on Wednesday, the INTUC leader said during his tenure as chairman of the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) he strived to provide maximum days of work to the workers. “But the allegation against me is that through that process I had created a loss of Rs.2 crore to the exchequer.”
Mr. Chandrashekaran said through the steps now initiated by the LDF government to reopen the KSCDC factories, the exchequer was bound to incur a loss of Rs.6 crore. If one were to calculate the loss over operating the KSCDC factories, these factories should have to be kept closed denying employment to the workers, he said.
He said had the previous UDF government taken the right steps to operate the KSCDC factories, the UDF would not have faced a setback in Kollam in the Assembly elections. The INTUC is in the process of creating a corps comprising one lakh workers in the State. He said that the INTUC would be joining the nationwide strike on September 2.
