Gawking Charges or ‘Nokku Kooli’ – A major problem in Kerala

Gawking Charges or 'Nokku Kooli'

Nokku Kooli, a Malayalam word that translates to gawking charges is a way of extortion used in Kerala by labor unions that pay wages to trade unions for householders/builders, etc., for unloading their belongings. They have the support of the political parties, including those in government too.

The Kerala high court intervened, stating that for those demanding nokku kooli , a case will be filed against them.
As per the reports of NEWS18 on Sunday, a truck of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) was blocked by the workers demanding money.

Nokku Kooli

Police said that they received a complaint from an ISRO employee around 11 AM, and when they reached the spot, they found that the workers were preventing them from entering Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). The VSSC officials said that their truck was stranded there for four hours, and later the workers demanded Rs10 lakhs from them.

Later, this issue was informed in the CM’s office, and the labor minister V Sivankutty intervened and then the truck went inside the high-security premises after several talks and protests. The issue was resolved, and the workers left the area after the government directed the district labor officer BS Rajeev to hold talks with agitators.

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Notably, this practice was abolished by the Kerala government in 2018, but still, practice is continued in several parts of the state with the backing of the militant trade unions. SRO employee Rajeshwari told PTI that cargo was so heavy that it cannot be offloaded with a hydraulic system, but despite this, these workers wanted money for the cargo to go in.

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