The hostile policies pursued by the State government and the local self-government bodies led by the CPI(M) have been the bane of small-scale entrepreneurs in Kerala, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran has said.
The incident at Thalassery wherein a couple trying to earn a living through their small-scale furniture business was forced to shut shop and flee the State allegedly because of the intransigence of the Thalassery municipality is just one in a long line of similar incidents in the State which has been trying to project itself as industry-friendly, said Mr. Sudhakaran in a statement here on Friday.
He pointed out that it was the hostile attitude of the CPI(M)-led Thalassery municipal authorities and the apathy of the Industries department which forced the entrepreneur-couple to give up their dream and leave the State in distress.
The municipality had forced them to shut down their shop, alleging violations in shop design, for which they had been asked to pay over ₹4 lakh as fine. Though the High Court ordered that the shop be allowed to function after it pays 10% of the fine, the municipal authorities did not relent, said Mr. Sudhakaran.
The incident is a blot on the State which has been trying to project itself as an investment-friendly one and exposes the hollow claims of the government, he said. There have been several incidents in the past when small-scale business owners were forced to shut because of red tape or militant trade unionism, he added.
NRI businessman Anthoor Sajan who was forced to commit suicide after the CPI(M)-led local body refused permission for his auditorium to function, and Punalur Sugathan, who was not allowed to run his workshop because of the hostilities with the local CPI(M) leaders are still fresh in the minds of Keralites, said Mr. Sudhakaran.
Now that the Thalassery incident has gained much negative publicity, the Industries department, its Minister and the incriminated local self-government body were trying to smooth out things by offering permission to reopen the business, he said.
Mr. Sudhakaran urged the government to help small-scale entrepreneurs run their business successfully. Instead, the government was interested only in helping big businessmen grow. Helping local people run successful regional ventures is how the government should be attracting more investment and industries into the State, he pointed out.
Mr. Sudhakaran said the government should be implementing a sustainable development policy which accommodated the needs of the big as well as small-scale entrepreneurs. Instead of providing all facilities and a suitable environment for small-scale businesses to grow, investors were being driven to the wall.
He said that the CPI(M) State leadership continued to be apathetic to the plight of small-scale investors, and it was unfortunate that the leadership seemed to have no inclination to rein in its local leaders from harassing small-scale entrepreneurs.
