KC(J) MP to fast before Parliament

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 17. The Kerala Congress(J) MP, Mr. Vakkachan Mattathil, would launch a 48-hour fast before Parliament from November 19 seeking urgent measures to improve the lot of rubber growers in Kerala. The party's member of the Lok Sabha, Mr. Francis George, is already on an indefinite fast before the Secretariat here.

Announcing the decision to extend the agitation to the national capital at a news conference here today, the KC(J) leader, Mr. P.J. Joseph, said Mr. Francis George would continue his fast before the Secretariat till `effective steps' are taken by the Government to lift the price of natural rubber. The KC(J) would organise campaign rallies all over the State on Sunday and Monday to take the message of the fast to the people, he said.

Mr. Joseph said the Government had not made available to the farmers even a single paisa out of the Rs. 5 crores said to have been sanctioned to support rubber procurement activities. The amount was sanctioned to compensate for the loss estimated to be sustained by procuring organisations when procuring each kilo of rubber. Till yesterday, the Government had not issued the necessary orders to make the money available, he said.

The KC(J) leader said the owners of rubber-based industries had made a clean sweep of about Rs. 30 crores thanks to the reduction in purchase tax announced by the Government. The order was issued without any delay to help the industrialists make a clean profit. However, when it came to issuing orders that would benefit the farmers, the same enthusiasm was not to be seen, he pointed out.

Mr. Joseph also wanted to know what was the rationale of offering concessions to rubber exporters when no procurement worth the name was taking place in the State. Hardly 250 tonnes of rubber had been procured during the last six months when Rubber Board figures showed that as much as 1.42-lakh tonnes waited to be procured. The country was also faced with the possibility of some 30,000 tonnes of natural rubber being imported by the industrialists using advance licences, he added.

The KC(J) leader also took strong exception to the exclusion of Rubco from the ambit of the purchase tax concession announced by the Government. He wanted to know how an agency in the cooperative sector, which had procured as much as 55,000 tonnes of rubber and exported 15,000 tonnes after its formation be denied the benefit of the tax concession. The Government decision in this regard was politically motivated, Mr. Joseph said.

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Section  : Southern States
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