Thiruvananthapuram: Kannur had virtually come to a standstill for the local industry on May 8 following a hartal called in the wake of two political murders. P.K. Mayan Mohamed, the managing director of The Western India Plywoods in Kannur, was expecting a buyer from Switzerland. “They came up to Coimbatore, and hearing that there was a hartal here they flew back,” Mr Mohamed said, during a panel discussion on ‘Improving Industrial Climate in Kerala’ here on Wednesday as part of Kerala Financial Corporation's relaunch. This was not said as a complaint, but in a matter-of-fact manner, as if talking about the summer rains.
In fact, he had stopped worrying about hartals long before. “Industrialists in Kerala have adapted to such political realities. It is part of our eco-system, the least of our worries,” Mr Mohamed said.
He said the only thing industrialists in the state would ask for is good infrastructure. “We need good roads, and if this is not delivered things will look difficult,” Mr Mohamed said.
CPM MLA V.K.V. Mammad Koya, the founder and chairman of the VKC Group, said that industrial plots should be created for small scale units.
“Shortage of land is the biggest hurdle to the growth of small scale units in this state,” Mr Koya said. The KSIDC had developed plots for large and medium industries, he said.
“But the plots had started filling up only after they were opened to small scale units,” he said.The reluctance of migrant workers to get into the mainstream was an issue raised by Tiji Jose, the managing director of St Mary’s Rubbers, Kanjirappilly.
“They don’t have an Aadhar card, which is a must if they are to get provident fund and ESI benefits. But these workers, who come mostly from Assam and West Bengal, are not interested in these deductions. They then get into units like bakeries where they don’t insist on such identity requirements,” Mr Jose.
He wanted the state government to initiate a scheme to bring migrant labourers into the mainstream. Migrant labour is also cheap labour.
“The minimum wage here is Rs 325, whereas that of Tamil Nadu is just Rs 175. This means a loss of over Rs 1.5 lakh a day, or Rs 40 lakh a month, for a unit employing 1000 people,” Mr Jose said.
He said a unit has to limit its labour costs to 10 percent of its turnover to remain competitive. Mr V.K.C. Mammed Koya, however, countered this saying that in places like Tamil Nadu where wages are low the labour was at the mercy of others. "It is only in Kerala that their rights are respected,”he said.
