The manager of Harrisons Malayalam Limited (HML) estate at Panniyar under Santhanpara panchayat issued a show-cause notice to six permanent workers who staged a protest in front of the estate office on Tuesday seeking better facilities.
The workers staged a protest with the body of Parimala, 42, a worker in the tea estate, who was killed after a wild elephant herd attacked her on Monday morning.
In the notice, the manager stated that workers, in league with some outsiders, resorted to a strike and blocked the estate office and obstructed officials from performing their duty and caused damage to the office resulting in financial loss to the company. However, the workers said they staged the protest without affecting the functioning of the office.
Santhanpara panchayat president Liju Varghese said the estate management should take steps to ensure better security for the workers. “A high-level meeting will be held at the estate on January 16. We will raise our demands at the meeting,” he said.
Parimala was attacked by a herd of wild elephants when she was going for work on Monday morning. In the absence of an ambulance facility, she was shifted to a hospital in a vehicle transporting timber and died at Theni Medical College Hospital.
Plantation workers and local people staged a protest on Tuesday with her body in front of the company office demanding proper ambulance facility and appointment of watchers.
