Assembly: Oppostion disrupts proceedings for the fifth day

Thiruvananthapuram: The Opposition disrupted Kerala Assembly proceedings for the fifth day in a row today — this time demanding that Labour Minister Shibhu Baby John should disclose details of the conspiracy he had mentioned behind testimony of Biju Radhakrishnan before the Judicial Commission enquiring into the solar panel scam.

The Opposition’s contention was that Mr. John’s statement cast doubts over Opposition members, but Mr. John maintained that he had not said that the conspirator was inside or outside the Assembly.

Mr. John said that the allegations of a person who was in jail for murder should normally be ignored. However, he suspected a conspirator behind the testimony of Mr. Radhakrishnan as he was no way acquainted with either Mr. Radhakrishnan or Saritha Nair. They had no reasons to target him.

So, he doubted someone’s hand behind it and he would disclose it once it is confirmed.

The issue was raised by Opposition Leader V. S. Achuthanandan through a submission. As the Opposition continued to protest in the well of the House following Mr. John’s response, the Speaker rushed through the agenda and adjourned the House for the day.

Cashew factories:
Earlier, responding to a notice for moving an adjournment motion, the Minister said that cashew factories under the State Cashew Development Corporation would be reopened by January. The dues to the workers including gratuity would be paid in December itself. The government was sanctioning money for that and working capital.

Mr. John urged the workers to withdraw their stir as government was taking steps to reopen the factories. The only uncertainty was regarding the date of arrival of imports of raw nuts for processing.  If possible, raw nuts would be purchased from traders. However, a fresh procedure had to be adopted as earlier deals had allegedly resulted in irregularities which the CBI was probing.

He said that if the bonus of the workers had increased only from Rs. 260 to Rs. 4000 over 25 years, it had doubled during four years of UDF rule.

CPI (M) leader P. K. Gurudasan, who had given notice for the motion, said that days of work got by the workers were coming down year after year. This year, they got work for only 57 days so far.  It was highly objectionable that a government corporation was not paying statutory dues including ESI contribution.