THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. Aug 7: The southern Indian state of Kerala, once racked by lockobts and strikes by militant trade unions, is now the least troubled by labour unrest in the country.

A study by the Indian Labour Bureau has revealed that communist-ruled Kerala has the lowest numbers of strikes and lockouts in the entire country. During 1997. the number of strikes which took place in the state was a mere 25 and lockouts just six. while the. national figure stood at a total of 1,134. The state witnessed 57 strikes and lockouts in 1992; 46 in 1993; 54 in 1994; 49 in 1995; and 42 in 1996.

The study said that the neighbouring' state of Andhra Pradesh witnessed 353 strikes and lockouts during the same year; Tamil Nadu saw 213 strikes; and the eastern. Left-ruled Indian state of West Bengal. 127.

'The drastic fall in the number of strikes and lockouts in Kerala over the past five years is because the trade unions are aware of their rights and duties and they behave accordingly." veteran trade union leader K M Sudhakaran told IANS.

'The government also come into the picture at the earliest to settle the disputes." added Sudhakaran. who is also the treasurer of the Confederation of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). a Left-affiliated umbrella organisation.

According to K N Harilal. who is a consultant to the State Planning Board, in the late '50s and '60s strikes were a means of establishing the rights of the trade unions. "A transformation has taken place since and what we have now is a responsible trade union movement."

This fact has been accepted by the managers in the organised sector. Harilal said, "what

remains to be done is to streamline the union activities, in the unorganized sector. Here also, of late, a procedure has l>een established."

Experts say that the maturity shown by the trade unions in the organized sector is following the realisation by them that the state is lagging behind in industrial development. The government too has played a crucial role with the help of the labour department.

Playing a pro-active role in the states development. CITU brings in specialists to study specific issues and provide directions. "One of the major works we did was in 1993 to find out the reason for the dismal performance of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation." Sudhakaran said.

We pointed out the mistakes and when the authorities took the necessary action the undertaking came out from the red."

The Labour Bureau report also said that Kerala recorded the least number of mandays lost on account of strikes and lockouts. It lost 4.75 lakh mandays as compared to 58.51 lakh mandays lost in West Bengal. Kerala's mandays chart showed a huge improvement since 1997 as It came down to 14.93 million from 31.26 million in 1992.

"Though the state did not make much progress in attracting new industries in the post-liberalisation period, things are different now." said Harilal. "Positive signals like these . have certainly made an impact and activities to set up new industries have now started in the state."

Harilal also pointed out that wage disparities between Kerala and neighbouring states, which was once a cause of serious heartburn in the organised sector. have also come down.

— India Abroad News Service