THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has called upon the cashew factory owners to take an appropriate decision on disbursing Onam bonus to cashew workers before the festival. In a meeting convened on Saturday, Minister for Cashew Development J Mercykutty Amma said it will be desirable if the bonus could be disbursed on August 17 or 18.
The meeting with the industrialists and trade union representatives was held for discussing various issues in the cashew sector including disbursement of the bonus. “The government knows well that the cashew sector is in dire straits. But it doesn’t mean denying the right of cashew workers to claim their Onam bonus,” said Mercykutty.
While stating the government is not interested in increasing the bonus limit and pushing the cashew factory owners into a difficult situation, the minister outrightly rejected the demand of the cashew factory owners to decrease bonus limit. “I came to know there are some differences between factory owners and trade union representatives regarding bonus disbursement. This will have to be settled in a meeting scheduled on Monday,” added Mercykutty.
D10.3 cr for cashew workers
T’Puram: The state government on Saturday sanctioned an amount of J10.3 crore to pay an ex gratia of J2,000 and for providing 10 kg of rice each to around 44,579 cashew workers who were left jobless due to the closure of factories.