The cash strapped Kerala Dinesh Beedies (KDB) has decided to dispose of its 36 cents land here, as a way to find out means to meet its long pending financial obligations to its workers,
The decision, widely viewed as a phased step towards closing down its operation, thanks to sustained anti-tobacco campaign and hostile market conditions, has come at a meeting of the Board of Directors of Kerala Dinesh Beedi Cooperative Workers Society, country’s largest cooperative beedi
manufacturing unit, here recently.
As per the “unanimous” decision at its board meeting, KDB has invited tenders and is exploring option to dispose of its assets vested with the 18 primary cooperative societies in northern Kerala districts to disburse long pending benefits accrued to retired workers.
“We expect to mop up over Rs 7.20 crore by disposing of the land housing our old godown at Thawakkara near here to clear the claims of 6,000 odd retired workers as the company has no other means to pool funds in the face of hostile market conditions, Society Chairman C Rajan told PTI.
“There is no point in retaining the “under-utilised” assets such as the old godown at the prime location which had been remaining virtually closed in recent years in the face of dwindled in beedi manufacturing over the years, Rajan said.
The decision to dispose of the ‘highly prized’ property was said to have been taken to assuage the “hurt” feelings of the workers of the CPI-M controlled Society as disbursal of their post retirement benefits had been pending for over the last three years owing to paucity of funds.
The move also comes ahead of the upcoming local body elections in the state..
The Society might go in for disposal of assets attached to 18 primary beedi units in a phased manner and ‘time alone will determine as to how soon India’s only cooperative beedi unit would finally get wound up its operation’, Rajan said.
The Society, sponsored by the Kerala Government to rehabilitate large number of beedi workers after the private manufacturers from outside the state had abruptly closed down their units in Kannur district in the 1960’s due to higher wage structure.
The government later implemented provisions of ‘Beedi and Cigar Workers’ Act-1966 and decided to organise the workers on cooperative basis and the Society formally came into being on February 15, 1969 to procure raw materials in bulk and also to mop up financial resources to market beedies under single brand.
The Central Society later acquired 1.26 acres of land with a substantial building at Payyambalam in the heart of the city.
The Kerala Dinesh beedi manufactures 60 lakh beedies a day through its 18 primary cooperative socities dotted from Kasaragod to Vatakara in northern Kerala. The society, which once employed 40,000 workers, now has 8,950 persons as the annual production of beedi comes to 180 crore.
“We pay rupees one lakh as Excise Duty per day even as other private beedi units are found to be blatantly evading the duty thereby helping them to bring down their production cost drastically”, Rajan said.
‘The KDB distributes Rs 25 crore as wages a year and enjoy major share of the market in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other parts of South India,” said Rajan adding that the society’s forray into readymade dresses, food processing units and IT as part of diversification programme to rehabilitate the workers have met with partial success as fund crunch was posing serious threat in its bid to float in the competitive market.