CPIM seeks revision of wages for cashew workers in Srikakulam district

CPIM Srikakulam District Secretary D. Govind on Tuesday asked the government to take steps for the revision of wages for cashew workers who have been leading a dismal life with meager wages for the last three decades.

He said that each worker is unable to earn even ₹300 per day despite working for more than 10 hours, a day.

The CPIM extended its support to nearly 20,000 cashew workers who have been agitating for wage revision and better working conditions. Over 100 cashew manufacturing units, located in Palasa, Mandasa and other places, export processed cashew to various countries and to other States.

Mr. Govind said: “Only owners of processing units and traders are benefiting, with prices of processed cashew nuts skyrocketing in the market. The labourers, who toil to make both ends meet, are being denied minimum wages. The labour department should intervene and make the owners of these processing units o enhance their wages immediately. The owners should also ensure regular health check up camps, as many women workers suffer from various health problems due to the hazardous working conditions in these manufacturing units.”

Andhra Pradesh Cashew Farmers Association’s Srikakualm District Convener T. Ajaykumar alleged that the cartel of cashew owners and traders has been fleecing farmers by offering throw away prices for cashew crop under the guise of plummeting prices of processed cashew nuts in the market. He said that the farmers were unable to get even ₹14,000 per quintal of cashew in spite of repeated requests to the stakeholders. He asked the government to fix a minimum support price for cashew nuts and take steps to directly buy from the farmers by adopting market intervention methods.