1 day Ago By Express News Service
KALPETTA: A day after the state government pulled a surprise by starting work on the Wayanad Township at Elstone Estate in Kalpetta within hours of the Kerala High Court granting permission for land acquisition, the estate employees launched an indefinite strike at the proposed site threatening to stall the construction. The joint strike by the CITU and INTUC demands immediate disbursal of pending allowances, including pension arrears and medical benefits, to around 300 estate workers. Though the district administration has called a meeting under the leadership of assistant labour commissioner on Tuesday to discuss the matter, the employees say they will allow construction only after receiving the pending benefits.
Elstone Estate has been mired in labour issues for over a decade. “The distribution of allowances to the workers should be handled by the estate owners. Since the case regarding land acquisition was in court, the government can only act as per its directive.
We are trying to explain the situation to the protesters. We need to begin the construction work as soon as possible,” said Mananthavady Sub-Collector Misal Sagar Bharat. Immediately after receiving a favourable order from the HC on Friday to acquire land, the state government took over 64 hectares from Elstone Estate and started construction of the township meant for the victims of the Mundakkai-Chooralamala landslides on Saturday itself.
The government’s attempt to start the township project—one of the biggest rehabilitation projects in the country—had suffered a setback after the estate owners moved the HC challenging the acquisition and demanding more compensation earlier. On Friday, when the government received the favourable order, the authorities wrapped up land acquisition procedures -- by paying an additional Rs 17.7 crore -- by 10.
30pm to avoid further challenges. The workers had hopped the HC verdict on acquiring estate land would also have directives on their pending benefits, but it did not happen. On Saturday, the estate staff blocked revenue officials at the site, demanding a solution to their issues before starting the construction work.
They alleged that provident fund arrears since 2014 and medical benefits of seven years are pending. Labour unions, including CITU, blamed the authorities for starting construction of the township before considering the estate workers’ issues. “The district collector, special officer and other officials associated with the project should apprise us of the next step to resolve the issues of workers of the Elstone Estate before starting construction.
Since the government has acquired the land, we are now asking it for our benefits. We do not have other options,” said P Gagarin, former CPM Wayanad district secretary who inaugurated the strike at Elstone Estate on Sunday..
