Kochi: The continuing demand for gawking charges — 'nokkukooli' in local parlance — in Kerala even after an official ban since 2018 has exasperated the High Court to such an extent it has called for terminating the much-hated practice of labourers once and for all.
The court said the term “nookukooli” should never be heard in Kerala again.
Justice Devan Ramachandran passed orders on Thursday directing the police to take stringent action irrespective of the colour of the flag if anyone demanded “nookukooli”.
The court directed that efforts should be made to remove the tag that Kerala is a state with militant trade unionism.
The court posted the next hearing on the petition for Kerala Formation Day on November 1.
Let the day be of new ideas and reforms, the court said.
The government informed the court that it would take stringent action against “nookukooli”. Exploitation might take place even if there are no trade unions. But the trade unions should stand for legal rights and not for creating ruckus, the court said.
The court urged to note the extent to which other states may go for bringing in investors.
The court was hearing the petition filed by Kollam Anchal native T K Sundaresan seeking police protection from the members of the labour unions. The court directed the petitioner that workers should be deployed for loading and unloading works only from the labour pool.
Three-tier system
Government pleader E C Bineesh explained that the government had put in place a three-tier system to curb “nokkukooli”. A toll-free number has been started for complaints regarding “nookukooli” or related matters.
Once a complaint is lodged on this system, the assistant labour officer, deputy labour officer, district labour officer would intervene in the matter and find a solution.
In case of complaints against registered workers, action including the scrapping of job cards is initiated.
The government pleader said that the authorities concerned have also been told to register cases invoking non-bailable sections.
The court hailed the actions taken by the government and directed that these decisions should be enforced strictly.
