Won't let Wayanad township work begin till payment of dues: Elstone Estate workers

Wayanad, April 12 (IANS) Workers of Elstone Estate in Wayanad on Saturday said that they will not allow the township work to begin until their dues are paid.

On Friday, the Kerala High Court allowed the state government to take physical possession of the 64 acres of land at Elstone Estate in Wayanad, which the Pinarayi Vijayan government took over for building the township.

CM Vijayan, in a social media post on Saturday, said that they have already paid Rs 26.56 crore for taking over the estate and deposited an additional Rs 17.77 crore.

"The High Court order giving the green signal for the state to take over the Elstone Estate came late Friday evening. The Wayanad District Collector completed all the proceedings for the takeover, and work started on Saturday," said CM Vijayan.

The Uralungal Labour Cooperative Society has been entrusted with the job of building the township for the Wayanad landslide victims. However, when its employees arrived with men and machines for the preparatory work at the estate, they were resisted by the former workers of the Elstone Estate.

"We have not been paid our wages for a while, and the company informed us that all our dues will be paid once they get the compensation for the takeover of the estate. We have not received anything, and we will not allow any work to begin until our dues are paid. We will begin a protest from Sunday," said angry labourers.

Former CPI-M legislator C. K. Saseendran's efforts to pacify the estate workers didn't work.

Meanwhile, the Elstone Estate officials are also upset with the compensation awarded. After the High Court verdict, the officials said they will approach the Supreme Court with their demand. However, the Vijayan government has filed a caveat petition in the Apex Court.

Incidentally, on March 27, CM Vijayan laid the foundation stone for the Wayanad Model Township, under which, 430 new homes and numerous other facilities will be built at the erstwhile Elstone Estate.

--IANS

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