<p>The Assembly on Monday decided to send the Kerala Cashew Factories (Acquisition) Amendment Bill, 2015 to its Subject Committee.The Bill proposes to amend certain provisions of the original 1974 Act to empower the government to take over in public interest 10 cashew factories which were returned to their original owners through High Court and Supreme Court orders this year. The government's contention was that it was not given proper notice to challenge the plea of the original owners in court and hence the amendment.Veteran trade union leader and CPI(M) legislator P.K. Gurudasan accused the government of playing into the hands of the owners. He said none of them would run the factories properly. Their management could result in large-scale unemployment of traditional cashew workers, mostly women. Hence it was imperative that the government acquired the factories to secure workers’ just conditions of service.Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty said he concurred with Mr. Gurudasan that the interest of thousands of cashew workers was paramount to the government. However, he denied the allegation that the government had played into the hands of the factory owners by colluding with their counsels in court.<br></p>