CPIM to picket Government offiices on July 12 in Kerala against inflation

The CPI(M) State secretariat has given a call for making the State-wide picketing of government offices on July 12 demanding food security and universal public distribution system (PDS) a success.

The secretariat said in a statement Friday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had failed to control inflation that had reached an unprecedented level in the country. Never before had inflation reached a two-digit figure in the country since independence. This was mainly on account of the neo-liberal policies being pursued by the UPA government. The permission granted for speculative trading, hoarding, and wrong export policy had all added to the crisis.

The entry of corporate giants into the food sector, the lapses in increasing productivity, and low growth in the farming sector were also some of the main reasons that led to the crisis. The government’s policies had weakened the public distribution system. Without learning a lesson from the crisis, even now the government was trying to categorise the public as above and below the poverty line (APL and BPL). The Planning Commission recommendation that those with a daily income of Rs.26 in rural areas and Rs.32 in urban areas could not be deemed poor would deprive a vast majority of the benefits of the PDS.

The Central government policy to cut subsidy in farming sector had led to an increase in fertiliser prices. Still, the government had not taken any step to implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendation that 50 per cent of the production cost should be included while fixing the floor- price of agricultural produce.

The previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had used the PDS and cooperative sector to curb inflation caused by the erratic policies of the UPA government. Since the United Democratic Front (UDF) came to power, the prices of essentials had gone up by 200 per cent. Kerala stood 17th in controlling prices as per the Labour Index Survey.

The CPI(M) has, among other things, demanded for the abolition of APL-BPL classification; introduction of universal PDS; provision of 35 kg foodgrains to all families at Rs.2 a kg; and for produce-price stability for farmers.