Saturday, March 17, 2018

This can happen only in Kerala.

News from various parts of Kerala showing the Malayalees' true colours. It's amazing that we can go to such abysmal depths! And then we have the audacity to lament that outsiders do not invest in our state!! Let's take just two incidents....

 (a) From Pala.

       The head load workers' union demanded a whopping Rs.15,000/- from the Union Bank of India.
       This was to unload a safe from a vehicle into the premises of the bank.
     
       Yes, it's the famous 'nokku kooli' which the government has derided and despised and has said
       that it will be a thing of the past from 01 Apr.

       The safe is 5' in length, 2.5' in width and weighs 1,250 kg. The private company that had sent
       the safe for the bank, in a vehicle, by 1000 hrs were mortified to see the vehicle return to its
       premises at 1500 hrs without accomplishing the task because the KTUC and the CITU unions
       had insisted on the huge amount! The union leaders, Josekutty Pooveli(KTUC) and Lalichan
       George(CITU) were contacted by the affected people for resolution of the problem but to no
       avail. The usual rate is Rs.4,500/-!

       Consequently, the aggrieved party had contacted the Labour Officer who has promised to
       resolve the issue on Monday without having to pay the 'nokku kooli'!

       * Nokku kooli is an euphemism for extortion by the organised labour unions, in Kerala,
          under which wages are paid to the trade union activists for allowing common householders,
          investors, builders to unload belongings/materials using machines or their own labour.
          This, sadly, has the tacit support of the political parties!

  (b) The Kuthiran Imbroglio.

         The Kuthiran gradient is a major traffic bottleneck on the busy Thrissur-Palakkad stretch of
         NH 544(The old NH 47). This was to be overcome by drilling and positioning twin tube
         tunnels through which the refurbished six lane highway would pass.

         The work had begun in '09 and was to be completed in '12 but got delayed by hurdles posed
         by land acquisition problems/objections from people.

         After many missed milestones, the tunnels were to have been commissioned by the end of
         this month but this deadline is also set to pass because of a delay in payments to the workers.
         The work has been disrupted for over three weeks!

         Once commissioned,  it would be the longest twin tube road tunnel in the country and it's
         understood that they're planning to have the Prime Minister to inaugurate the six-lane
         highway.


Tailpiece.

We, Malayalees, seem to be so self centered that we worry only about our own personal and narrow needs without being bothered about what's good for the country! Truly a case of God's own country with devil's own people.  
       

No comments:

Post a Comment