Monday, February 16, 2009

Going deeper into Plachimada agitation

Plachimada agitation against the Coca-cola company waged by the people of Perumatty panchyat in the palakkad district of Kerala can be seen as one of the prominant environmentally consciuos movements taken place in the state.



The sale of cola products in the state has been lower compared to other states in India. The percapita consumption of colas in Kerala is estimated to be 1.5 bottles per annum compared to 50 in delhi. In fact the biggest consumption of colas is for the purpose of mixing with liquor. Otherwise the sale would have been much lower.



it would be quite natural for a populace to be enraged by a 'giant greedy corporate' drawing water resources to supply external markets. but there can be larger reasons behind the publicity achieved by the agitation.



Though mylamma was celebrated as the leader, the decision makers were the sidekicks who were mostly from outside the locality. but they had found the issue to be within their moral realms so that the direct beneficiary status was not an issue at all. Rather we can say that Mylamma became a symbol for the agitation. it was no wonder that the strike against MNC attracted scores of activists from around the globe.

2 comments:

Debasish Maitra said...

But, Rijo it was also symbol of a good leadership. Even there are so many coco-cola plants in west Bengal, still there is no such agitation though same political party is ruling both the states.
There is really dearth of of a good leader in west Bengal. But still people see the cost benefit whether agitation against coca-cola is suitable or joining their plant for production.
So, this sort of movements should be replicated in a constructive way.
What do u think???

EquityForLife said...

We are forgetting few more things and they are:

1. Kerala has a reputation of strong trade unions and other groups, defending the rights of the common man and women.

2. Kerala is renowned for its decentralised planning programme giving more power to the local government.

The above 2 factors also played a significant role in making this a large scale movement. Otherwise, Plachimada is only one among the 24 plants owned by Coca Cola