Ayyankalipada strikes in Wayanad

The tribal activist outfit Ayyankalipada has struck again in Kerala, surfacing this time with an attack on a cooperative bank in Panamaram in Wayanad district.

The flash attack by the outfit was to protest harsh measures by banks and the government against farmers who have taken loans from cooperative banks. The Ayyankalipada has in the past protested measures like revenue recovery proceedings against farmers.

When police arrived at the scene, the activists were reported to have shouted anti-government and anti-World Bank slogans. Some activists reportedly said that it was unfair to proceed with revenue recovery proceedings against the farmers since their inability to pay interest on loans was due to the steep crash in price of agricultural commodities.

The farming and plantation sectors in Kerala, with the exception of cardamom, are going through a severe financial crunch. The hardest hit are the tea and coffee plantations, where some of the owners have even deserted their plantations following the crash of commodity prices to rock bottom levels.

The latest attack by Ayyankalipada activists will add to the worry-lines on the brows of both the state government and the bankers.

Bankers, who are already worried about the repayment capacities of the borrowers, are now fearing strong-arm tactics by organisations like the Ayyankalipada to stop all repayments of loans by farmers.

The state government will be hard pressed to contain such rebellion, especially in the context of the upcoming Global Investors' Meet (GIM) being organised in Kochi in January 2003.

The government is pinning its hopes on attracting foreign investment in the state through the GIM, and open rebellion in the state like the one witnessed in Wayanad yesterday can jeopardise the investment climate.