Rubber Board's Special Programme to Address Tapper Shortage

Rubber Board Chairman Mr. V.J. Kurian has announced that the Board will implement a special programme with immediate effect to address the shortage of tappers, which has evolved as a serious issue in the rubber plantation sector.

Selected workers from Kerala and other States will be given intensive training in the Board's Tapping Schools in Kerala.

Workers from other states having valid Electoral Identity Card will be brought to Kerala, after obtaining necessary clearance from the police and medical authorities concerned. After successfully completing the training, their service will be allotted to holdings which are already identified. The whole programme will be implemented with the involvement of Rubber Producers' Societies (RPSs) and the Tapper Banks under their control, said the Chairman.

The Board will meet the entire expenses of the trainees for their journey from native place to Kerala and will also provide an allowance of `150 a day for each trainee, for food and incidental expenses.

The trainees in batches of 20 will be given 30 days intensive training. Each trainee will be given Rs150 every day as stipend and their accommodation will be arranged in the Board's Tapping Schools. Training for the first batch, brought from Orissa State, will commence from 31 January 2011 at Tappers Training School at Kothala, Kottayam.

A total of 280 workers will be trained in two turns in Board's seven Tapping Schools. Board proposes to make available the service of trained tappers to the RPSs by the commencement of the next tapping season.

(Source: http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Commodities-Buzz-Rubber-Boards-Special-Programme-to-Address-Tapper-Shortage/3449783876)