Corporate India knows elections are the best time to hit a feckless government back where it hurts. If Anna Hazare has gone the good old Gandhian way of fasting to wrest from the government what he wanted, the garment units in Tirupur did one better. By filing 1,000 nomination papers for the Assembly elections in the districts of Coimbatore, Erode and Karur, they had forced the ruling DMK and opposition AIADMK to come up with a plan to fight a court order that hit the industry hard.
The high court had ordered closure of 720 manufacturing and fabric dyeing units in the area over the lack of adequate effluent treatment facilities. With the factory workers on their side, the garment units would have spoilt the calculations of all parties, in an already difficult election to predict. By the last date of withdrawal of nominations, both the AIADMK and the ruling DMK had come up with a plan to fight the court order.
?This was a step we took under duress, since it is the government which has to come up with a plan to clean up the industrial effluence from the dyeing units in the area, and its failure to do so had led to the court ordering closure of the units,? said Tirupur Industries Protection Association (TIPA) president N Annadurai.
The association was formed after the court ordered closure.
Industrial effluence from Tirupur had found its way to farmlands in the neighbouring Karur district. The farmers went to court alleging that this was harming their land.
?The high court gave several chances to the government to come up with a plan to effect a clean up, but in the last five years nothing happened. The high court then ordered that in the interests of the environment, the dyeing units should be closed,? said TIPA member Kalairajan.
?We had already lost most of our business to Mumbai, Ludhiana and even New Delhi. At least 50,000 people would have lost jobs,? he added.
The anger against the DMK is particularly fierce among the TIPA members since the government had even sought central funds for a ?study? of the problem. ?The study itself cost R20 crore, after which nothing was done,? said Kalairajan.
The idea of filing the nomination papers (100 alone for the Tirupur north constituency) was a master stroke. The day this happened, the DMK, the AIADMK, the BJP and the Congress held a meeting with the TIPA. Former Union minister Subbalakshmi Jagadeeshan was present on behalf of the DMK at the meeting. All parties begged the TIPA to reconsider the decision, promising an action plan to present to court soon.
AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, never a slouch when it comes to scoring brownie points, has been quicker off the block than the DMK.
?Not only will I undertake a R1,300-crore project to pipe treated effluence for dumping in the bay of Tuticorin, but also pressure the government to remove the 10.3% tax on finished garments announced in this year?s budget,? she announced at a public rally in Coimbatore and Erode.
AIADMK is expected to win big in the area, the TIPA is hoping that the promise made to them will not be forgotten in the clamour of victory.