The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry today expressed concerns over the incidents wherein workers were allegedly prevented from unloading rails transported from Kochi port for the Metro Rail Project, citing the "nokku kooli" issue.
Nokku kooli is an unofficial labour norm in Kerala under which fees are paid to trade union activists for allowing investors to unload materials using machines or their own labour.
"It is most unfortunate that such incidents occur even today especially when the demand for nokku kooli has been declared illegal by the High Court of Kerala.
"We fail to understand the logic behind this senseless demand leading to a stoppage of work," the chamber said protesting against an incident of nokku kooli reportedly happened here yesterday.
"We are disappointed to note that the government and concerned officials seem unable to tame this social bane," it said.
The chamber said the High Court had clearly stated that this practice amounts to an illegal extraction of money by creating a state of fear and that this is a punishable offence.
"It is disappointing to see that a mega infrastructure project like the Kochi Metro is being unnecessarily affected due to such negative acts," the chamber said.
It also appealed to the state government to "sincerely and effectively" intervene and resolve such issues and also ensure that such circumstances do not occur in future.
