In the Communist-ruled Indian state of Kerala, a group of workers and local people in the capital Thiruvananthapuram yesterday (5 September) blocked a truck belonging to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) demanding a “gawking charge” or “nokku kooli “of ₹10 lakh, reports Hindustan Times.
The so-called workers who have ties with trade unions in the state stopped a truck that was laden with heavy equipment and was headed towards Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), which is a key wing of ISRO.
As per VSSC officials, the truck was held hostage for more than four hours and upon no resolution, VSSC had to reach out to take the help of Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan’s office, and thereafter, State’s Labour Minister V Sivankutty intervention got the truck the permission to go through.
But even after the state government intervention, it took several rounds of talks and protests for the matter to be resolved as the workers compromised with national security.
It should be noted that this incident took place came just three days after the Kerala High Court had pulled up the State Government for not effectively implementing the law to get rid of the strange practice called ‘nokku kooli’ which means gawking wages.
The court had said, “The practice is damaging the image of Kerala. It should be eradicated. It gives a wrong perception about the state. It should be corrected.”
The practice was abolished by the Kerala government in 2018, however, it is still widely practiced in the state where people are charged by licensed members of the headload workers for not doing any work and has the backing of militant trade unions and it has been called as extortion by registered trade unions.
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