Tuesday, October 26, 2010

DYFI stages stir against Mangalore City Corporation


Alleging that the tenders for development projects were not being awarded in a fair manner in Mangalore City Corporation and charging council members and officials with demanding bribe from contractors, DYFI members staged a protest outside MCC Office on Monday.

DYFI District President Muneer Katipalla said that contractors in the city are reluctant to take up development works because of the corrupt practices prevailing in MCC. Council members and officials are bothered about the percentage of share they can earn through the contracts for development works. They have no concern for the city and its development, Katipalla said. He said that while crores of rupees have been spent to develop city roads, the corporation has conveniently ignored interior roads in the City limits. The major achievements of BJP-led MCC are the anti-poor city development plan and the hike in the water supply tariff.

The billing process for the water supply in the City has been handed over to private agency thereby leaving consumers in a fix. Even though there were several complaints with regard to excessive billing, the City Corporation could not address the same,he said and added that BJP corporators are more concerned about the State politics than the real problems of the poor in the City. A procession was taken out from Jail Road to the MCC Office.

(Source : Mangalorean.com)


Rejoinder by Prakash Karat to certain Press reports on Cambridge speech

There have been certain reports of my speech at the Memorial Conference for Victor Kiernan in Cambridge that are inaccurate in parts and misleading. Some agencies have attributed to me that I stated that we committed “a historical blunder” in not recognising the role played by caste in politics and society. It is also alleged that I said that Communists are “stuck in the forties” as far as their theory and practice is concerned.
 
I wish to make it clear that these remarks attributed to me are neither correct nor accurate. As far as caste is concerned what I said is as follows: “We should understand both in theory and practice how class structure in India is influenced by and integrated with structures of hierarchy, discrimination and oppression that are particular to Indian society reflected for instance in caste system.” Stating that Communists recognise the role of caste in the socio-economic formations in India is far from saying what has been attributed to me.
 
Secondly, contrary to saying that Communists are stuck in the forties, what I pointed out was and I quote from my written notes:
 
 “The bulk of the support for the Communist Parety even today comes from the movement areas and outlying region, where mainly in the 1941 to 1948 period the Communists succeeded in bringing together and leading the two main historical currents of people’s struggles -- the struggle against the colonial power and the struggle of the rural masses for freedom from exploitation. Thus where the Communists brought the anti-imperialist and anti-landlord movements together and gave leadership to this united struggle, they gained mass support. Tebhaga (Bengal), North Malabar (Kerala), the tribal struggle (Tripura) the Telengana struggle are some instances.”
 
I had concluded by saying that the agenda of the forties such as land reforms and struggle for land is still being pursued by the Communists.