KOLLAM: The factories under the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation will reopen on Wednesday next putting an end to the year-long protests of the workers. The government approved the lowest bid to purchase 900 tonnes of raw cashew from the bids it received in the tender floated by the corporation recently.
“The tenders were submitted to the government which has sanctioned a deal to purchase 900 tonnes of raw cashew from a Tuticorin-based company, Vinayaka Cashews. The consignment will reach Kollam soon, which will be distributed among the 30 factories under the corporation. The cashew selected is from Guinea Bissau. We expect to open the factories by August 17,” Mr T.F. Xavier, the new MD of the Cashew Corp-oration, told this newspaper.
The corporation had received fresh tenders for importing cashew from Guinea Bissau and Ivory Coast. Instead of the routine process of finalising tenders by the bodies itself, they were submitted to the government. According to market experts, there is an overall shortage of cashew this year and the government had failed to intervene in the market on time to get cashew at appropriate rates.
"The government should avoid mediators in purchasing raw cashew for the factories under the corporation and Capex in view of the upcoming Tanzanian season by September. Meanwhile, the government should also take steps to pay off the gratuity of the employees which has been pending for the last five years. The case of private factories should also be considered by the government,” Mr Kadakampally Manoj, the whistle-blower who fought against the corruption in the cashew corporation, told this newspaper.
The recent tender by the corporation elicited good response after it was given concessions in tender criteria along with other perks for cashew traders. The major decision was to bring down the minimum quantity of cashew to be supplied to 500 tonnes from the earlier limit of 2,000 tonnes. The Guinea Bissau cashew that was approved by the government was quoted for Rs 142 per kg.
