KOCHI: The labour department has served a notice on Kitex Garments, exporter of kids apparel functioning at Kizhakkambalam, alleging 73 violations it noticed during a surprise check conducted at the unit last week. On June 29, Kitex group had decided to scrap a Rs 3,500-crore project to establish an apparel park in Kochi and industrial parks in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Palakkad, alleging harassment by the state government. “The notice has cited 73 labour laws and says we have failed to comply with the law under each charge. Most of the laws cited in the notice does not apply to our unit.
The notice, dated June 28, was served on Friday evening,” said Kitex chairman and managing director Sabu M Jacob. A labour department officer said the company authorities were not able to show documents in connection with certain violations we noticed during a surprise check. “We have given them 15 days’ time to produce relevant records.
These are part of a routine procedure and there is no need to make an issue out of it,” the officer said. Sabu said a team of officers from the district industries office visited Kitex on Saturday to discuss the issues raised by him following a directive from t h e Industries director. “I took the officers around the factories and asked them to check the allegations for themselves. If the department wants to address the issue, they should convene a meeting of all officers concerned. There are eight officers who deal with our unit, including pollution control board chief environment engineer, assistant labour officer, health officer and factories and boilers officer. They should explain the allegations and I am ready to provide evidence from the part of Kitex. If the allegations are proved wrong the government should suspend the officers and conduct a probe against them,” said Sabu.
After TN, Kitex gets invite from Telangana
Kitex has received a letter from Telangana Industries Minister K T Rama Rao inviting the company to implement the Rs 3,500-crore project there.“I wanted to personally reach out to you to present Telangana as the next destination in Kitex’s growth journey. I am confident that the combination of policy offerings, infrastructure and ease of doing business that Telangana offers will enable Kitex to seamlessly set up and operationalise a new base outside Kerala.
My Principal Secretary, Jayesh Ranjan, can take you through a detailed presentation of our strengths and offerings. Please advise how we can take this forward with you and your team,” Rama Rao said in his letter.“I decided to implement the project in Kerala as I have an attachment with my state. However the result has been disappointing. The decision to withdraw from the project is final. We will consider implementing the project in another state after conducting a feasibility study and analysing the incentives offered by those states.
Representatives of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have contacted me till date,” said Sabu. Meanwhile, Lulu Group Chairman Yusuffali M A said there should not be a situation wherein Kitex leaves Kerala. “More investors should come to the state paving way for more job opportunities for youths here,” he said.In the wake of a slew of allegations against the Kitex Group, MLAs P T Thomas, Eldos Kunnappillil and P V Sreenijan demanded the departments concerned to take action based on the complaints. They raised the issue during the District Development Committee meeting. They demanded that a special meeting be called under the chairmanship of the district collector to address the complaints about pollution at Kadambrayar.