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Labour problems haunt NTPC project in Kerala

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The National Thermal Power Corporation, India’s largest power utility, which undertook its first project in Kerala with a promise to complete it within three years, has run into difficulties. Recently, the NTPC authorities also narrowly averted a strike call given by the unions.

The corporation, which took up the 350 mw combined cycle power project in February last, was swamped by all sorts of troubles ranging from trade unions to fisherfolk. first, trade unions owing allegiance to both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the opposition, the Congress-led United Democratic Front, on October 16 and 18 prevented nearly 400 workers of Larsen and Toubro, one of NTPC’s subcontractors on the project, demanding the strict implementation of an agreement which stipulated that 75 per cent of the workers deployed will be from the local area. They had also slapped a notice on the NTPC, threatening a strike from November 1.

Then the local fisherfolk, for their part, blocked one of the massive dredgers operating in the Kayakular Lake using their country boats. The fisherfolk, under the banner of 'Swatantra Mataya Thozhilali Union’ (Independent Fish Workers Union), claimed that the dredging operations was scaring away fish.

Members of the Communist Party of India, the second largest constituent of the ruling Left front, had disrupted dredging operations at Arattupuzha, a small island near the project site, fearing a threat to the island. They members apprehend that the village might sink into the lake under the impact of the dredging.

Rattled by the growing protests, NTPC officials approached the higher authorities for assistance. State Power Minister Pinarayi Vijayan convened a high-level meeting of NTPC officials and trade union leaders, and managed to avert the strike. Earlier, NTPC had warned that the strike would have upset all schedules.

NTPC sources also termed the disruptive activities by the workers and the strike call improper since an industrial relations committee, specially constituted to deal with such issues, is active. The joint labour commissioner, who heads the committee, had held five rounds of discussions to end the impasse but without any result.

Pointing out that the accord for a 75:25 per cent ratio for local and outside work force had been agreed upon by all concerned, the trade unions alleged that NTPC had violated the agreement. However, NTPC has denied any violation of the agreement and claimed that their subcontractors have ensured almost 75 per cent representation to locals.

Any delay in the commissioning of the project will upset the calculations of the communist government which has promised to make Kerala a power surplus state before it lays down office in the year 2000. NTPC, which has an impressive record in plant construction, erection and operations, are probably encountering such problems for the first time. But in Kerala, where the communist parties have considerable sway and which boasts the world's first democratically elected communist government, such problems are common.

The last power project (the Lower Periyar project), which was commissioned last week, took over 13 years to complete, nine years after schedule. The Kallada irrigation project, whose gestation period was four years and which was begun even before the Lower Periyar project, is still to be completed.

In fact, private investors have been shying away from Kerala saying labour in the state is too militant to be tackled. Although the government has been reeling out statistics showing that labour trouble in Kerala is less compared to some other states, private entrepreneurs seem to be ignoring them.

The previous Congress-led government had made massive efforts to attract private investors into the state, and set up large and medium-scale projects that could set the tone for an industrial take off. But the efforts appear to be in vain. The present government has not sought any such adventure so far. It appears content with reviving the public sector units, some of which were written off by the previous government.