A high-level meeting held on Friday at the Cochin Port Trust decided to adopt measures for smooth loading and unloading of cargo. It was noted at the meeting that the existing system under the Kerala Headload Workers' Welfare Board (KHWWB) had many deficiencies which perpetuated ‘nokku kooli' (notional wages).
In order to curb nokku kooli, Port Trust officials will countersign the indent placed by port-users on the KHWWB so that users will not be under pressure to indent for more than the required number of labour from the welfare board. The KHWWB will make all efforts to supply labour strictly as per indents. The board will proceed as per law to remove workers who were continuously absent after giving the statutory notice.
The KHWWB will review the present pool system of headload workers and rearrange all the existing members of the scheme in the port area as per requirement.
The Port Trust chairman said that in view of the severe shortage of workers in certain areas of cargo handling like bagging, the port would introduce ‘automated bagging' from the fourth week of February. It will speed up evacuation of cargo such as fertilizers, which will result in more ship arrivals.
The Labour Commissioner said that complaints of nokku kooli should be filed immediately with the police as Ernakulam had been declared a nokku kooli-free district. The Railways spelt out various new plans to increase rail movement, which would de-congest the roads of Kerala.
A pre-condition for diverting port cargo through the Railways would be to ensure appropriate labour practices and competitive rates for loading and unloading in the port area, the officials said.
Wagons for trade
The Divisional Railway Manager asked the officials to notify trade on the availability of wagons. The railway officials would inform the trade in case the wagons could not be placed so that workers from the KHWWB would not be indented needlessly.
The meeting was attended by the Divisional Railway Manager, State Labour Commissioner, Additional Secretary (Transport), Commissioner of Police Kochi, RDO Fort Kochi, senior officers of concerned departments and the stake holders, besides the chairman and senior officers of Cochin Port Trust.
