SIPCOTs – Boon Or Bane?

SIPCOTs – Boon Or Bane?
Cheyyaru S.Arunkumar

“It can make employment opportunities. Not for many years. It is a short lived one.” This is what we can say all about the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT).

It was set up in TamilNadu to promote the less developed regions in the year 1971. The main aim is to create jobs to the people of those regions. So far 13490 acres land has been allotted for SIPCOTs according to an official statement by the state Chief-minister. So many MNCs(multi-national companies) started their branches in Thiruperumbudhur, Cheyyaru, Oragadam, Hosur etc… Many people got jobs in those industries.

But the real problem is, so many agricultural lands were undertaken for the SEZs(special economic zones). The government agreed them to provide infrastructure facilities like road, uninterrupted electricity, water supply. On the other hand the companies appointed persons from north India for the high rank jobs whereas the people of Tamil Nadu were able to be the wages only.

The industries caused much pollution in the interim. They polluted the air by the toxic smoke and polluted water and land by their drainage. They got water from the rivers at a mount level thereby created water scarcity. Due to their enormous usage of electricity, today the state is in shortage and having 4 hours(in towns) and 6 hours(in villages) cut in electricity. But the MNCs are getting electricity properly according to the agreement with the government unlike our people and Indian companies.

LOTUS INTERNATIONAL is a Taiwan based footwear industry located at Cheyyaru SIPCOT where leather tanning is the major process. Without adequate safety measures the workers are working in a danger of getting skin-cancer. Due to the wastage of leather tanning industry, fertile lands around the region turning infertile. The high ranked persons in A/C rooms getting Rs 40000. But the workers are getting only Rs 4000-6000 per month in-spite of working for a full day in extreme heat conditions which a normal man cant bear. Because of this kind of striving efforts their health becomes feeble and they cant work anymore. The people of Cheyyaru, Vandavasi faced the water scarcity for the first time in their history as a result of the SIPCOT.

“After using the limited and precious sources like water, land, electricity and the human resource which they don’t have in their country, they will go back. Then who will take care of the abandoned and broken backbone of our nation?”