Southern States - Kerala   

`LDF responsible for crisis in coir sector'

By Our Staff Reporter

ALAPPUZHA DEC. 11. The Congress leader and Coirfed chairman, Haji M. K. Abdul Gafoor, and the JSS leader and Foam Mattings chairman, Pushparajan, at a joint press conference here today said that the LDF and the CPI(M) were responsible for the present crisis in the coir sector. The coir mat manufacturing units in the public sector and the cooperative sector were completely destroyed during the five years of LDF rule in the State, Mr. Pushparajan said. The mismanagement of the public sector and cooperative sector coir manufacturing units which would have worked as a balancing force in the market lead to the monopoly of private companies, Mr. Pushparajan said.

While the export of private entrepreneurs registered a record growth in the last few years, the contribution of public sector coir companies dwindled to a paltry 0.05 per cent, he said.

According to Mr. Gafoor, the Coirfed, during the chairman's tenure, had pledged its properties against the bylaw and took loan of Rs. 10 crores. This had resulted in an annual liability of Rs. 1.80 crores to the Coirfed, Mr. Gafoor said.

The Coirfed also pledged the fund entrusted to it by the UDF Government during 1995, he said. The inferior quality machines provided by the Coirfed in the past affected the functioning of the units, he added.

Various steps taken during the last chairman's tenure like appointment of 65 temporary workers without seeking permission of the registrar, the action of making 30 staff permanent without informing the PSC, the appointment of a person who has private business as the business manager of the Coirfed and the failure to conduct stock verification and proper accounting had all contributed to the financial crisis of the Coirfed, Mr. Pushparajan said.

According to the UDF leaders, the decision of UDF Government to enquire into mismanagement in the Coirfed and other public sector institutions have unnerved the LDF and the present violent agitation against exporters was aimed at diverting the attention. The UDF leaders asked the chief minister and coir minister to intervene in the issue and bring an end to the crisis in the coir sector.

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