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Kerala govt, mafia, plantation firm entwined in politico-economic wrangle

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The dispute over a road and the present crisis in the Janata Dal, a constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, have combined to frustrate the entrepreneurial plans of a group of young planters from the central Travancore area.

The youngsters, engineers/MBAs from India and abroad, now regret their decision to take to farming instead of the conventional route to steady, secure, well-paying jobs.

Calling themselves the Poabs Group, the youths mainly manage the estates their parents have in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Interestingly, the trouble is not from the militant labour that the state is known for, but the mafia that is seeking to secure a foothold in the state's northern district of Palakkad.

The gang, which allegedly has connections with the Bombay underworld, had purchased several estates at Nelliyampathy in Palakkad district, which is strategically located for smuggling, and training of militants.

It is alleged that they had trained and harboured some of the Coimbatore blast accused on their estate, which is not fully used for cultivation. Out of 650 acres, one group cultivates only 35 acres. The remaining tract has been kept abandoned.

The Poabs Group's troubles began when they decided to control a private road in one of the estates (called the Seethakund estate) at Nelliyampathy.

They introduced a toll to partly compensate the loss caused to the crops by the tourists visiting the estates and for the upkeep of the road. Earlier, they had the road repaired by spending Rs 1.5 million.

The gang, which bought some estates adjacent to the Seethakund estate, obviously did not like this. Apparently, control over visitors hindered their activities.

The local people allege smuggling of arms and narcotics and even growing of ganja are rampant in the estates of the gangs. It is learnt the gang even constructed an unauthorised road through the thick forests to the neighbouring Tamil Nadu for trouble-free operations.

The Kerala Nature and Environment Protection Committee, an environmental agency active in the region, has alleged that the road was constructed with the connivance of some forest officials.

Committee secretary Velayudhan Ambashi has warned that Nelliyampathy would turn out to be a den for underworld activities if the government failed to take immediate steps to control the gang's activities.

The government and its agencies have no knowledge about who have bought estates at Nelliyampathy recently and what their activities are, admitted state Revenue Minister K E Ismail. He said the matter needs a thorough inquiry in the light of the concern being expressed by the people against the gang's activities.

However, the minister did not agree with the idea of introducing a private toll system at Seethakundu. He intervened in the matter and suspended the collection of toll.

The neighbouring estate owners have been trying all possible tactics to get the Seethakund estate so that they could have exclusive control over a vast region away from the public gaze. They first approached the Poabs Group to buy out the estate, which has been fully developed with cardamom, coffee, orange and other crops.

When the efforts did not pay off, they tried threats, alleged Vinu Jacob, who manages the Seethakund estate. An MBA from London and an M Tech (environment), Jacob alleged the gang later influenced the governmental agencies to harass the young planters. Their latest attempt is to get our estate taken over by the government, he added.

The problems of the planters did not end there. The infighting in the Janata Dal has added a new twist to the estate episode.

There is a view that Minister for Forest and Transport P R Kurup (of the JD) favours the Poabs Group and had allegedly bestowed some favours on them. A section of JD leaders are seeking Kurup's removal on the charge that the forest minister had frozen Chief Minister E K Nayanar's order to take over the entire plantation.

However, Kurup told Rediff On The NeT/EM> that he was not aware of any such order from the chief minister let alone freezing it. As far as his knowledge went, the chief minister had only sought legal advice for filing an appeal against the Kerala high court's order eight years ago regularising 220 acres of forest land the Poabs Group was awarded by a tribunal under the Kerala Vesting and Assignment Act.

The minister said the charge was fabricated by vested interests to ease him out of the Nayanar ministry. Another charge against the minister is that he had legalised encroachment of 18 acres of forestland the Poabs Group had allegedly encroached. The minister said he had only given strict instructions to the department to get back the land through legal and other means.

The minister's instruction came after the Poabs Group expressed their willingness to part with another 18 acres of the land. They made this suggestion, as the alternate land offered was contiguous to the forest. Moreover, they had made considerable investment for cultivating the disputed land. However, the minister did not agree to the suggestion.

In addition to these cases, there are 16 other cases pending against the Poabs Group. Vinu Jacob said their entire time and energy were being used for fighting these petty and false cases. One case against them is for providing protection to a sambar, which was shot by a poacher.

The forest department charged the Poabs Group with illegal confinement of the sambar in their plantation. Although the sambar was freed it chose to return to the estate much to the chagrin of forest officials.

Another case against the Seethakund estate is they have not paid a building tax of Rs 150,000 for a cattleshed they had constructed. Action was being initiated against the Poabs Group even though there is no such tax is levied for cattlesheds in the state.

The irrigation department has filed a case for a right over the fish they have grown in the streams within the estate, owned by them. The department wanted to auction the fish as they claimed that the streams belonged to the government.

Incidentally, the Seetakund is one of the estates where the entire land is used for cultivation. More than two-thirds of the 56 estates at Nelliyampathy are incurring heavy losses. Some of the estates are lying abandoned.

The Seetakund estate is managed by Jacob, his brother and their children, most of who have engineering degrees.

Jacob's second son, who is now doing an MBA in London, is also involved in the running of the plantation. ''All our children have taken to farming foregoing the prospect of building lucrative careers,'' said Jacob.

He said his children's plan was to develop the estate as a model for the new generation looking for white-collar jobs. They can inspire others to engage themselves in farming, he said.

They have also plans to develop farm tourism in a big way linking all their estates as a tourist circuit. This would be of immense help in Kerala, where there is acute shortage of farm workers, particularly to cultivate paddy.

The Poabs Group has been trying to avoid chemical fertilizers in keeping with the greens campaign. They have developed their own poultry and dairy farms, as part of the estate to generate organic fertilisers required for their plantations.

However, Jacob alleged that the Kerala government was not at all helpful in the novel venture. The official agencies have been trying to harass them, Jacob said, adding that the campaign against them would be a disincentive to investors in Kerala.

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