"Nokku Kooli" !!

In a recent edition of Malayala Manorama, I was amused to read CPM Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's comments about "Nokku Kooli". Even though Nokku Kooli is a well-known practice in Kerala for many decades now, and has been filmed in numerous comedy films and portrayed by Toms in several Bobanum Moliyum comic strips, I was not aware that it has been officially assigned this interesting name of "Nokku Kooli". Actually I remember reading about this practice in the Kuttan Kandathum Kettathum comics by Krishnan, that was published in Mathrubhoomi weekly during the late 1970s, so I guess it was already a well-established custom that time.

In Kerala, various Labor Unions have assumed these funny rights to receive payment for any sort of "loading and unloading" happening in the state, even if they haven't done any work. To quote from a Deccan Herald article, "It is the wage that has to be paid to the recognized trade union workers of an area when a person or organization loads material on to a vehicle or unloads with the help of friends or helpers instead of these workers. These wages are no pittance either, but often up to four times the normal wages laid out by the labor department. Those undertaking construction or moving household articles while shifting their lodging and companies have no choice but to pay up. .. The rational behind this strange practice is that only the unions have the right to load or unload material. As such, they should be paid even if they did not take up the work.", and that is exactly Nokku Kooli, which literally means "Fees for Observing".

I wonder if any similar interesting practice has ever been followed by any other civilization of the World for such a long period of time.