West Bengal Demands Immediate Food Security Legislation

West Bengal Left Front Committee has launched a huge statewide signature campaign as a part of the nationwide campaign ensuring the demand for 35 kg rice at the cost of Rs.2 per kg for every household beyond APL or BPL delimitation. The historic signature campaign would thus fulfill the slogan of Food for All. So the demand affirms no distinction between APL and BPL, the government has to ensure Food for All. Every signature therefore would ensure a step forward to fulfill the demand throughout 19 districts of the state. While inaugurating the signature campaign Left Front Chairman Biman Basu at Entally market area said that food grains are getting rotten in government stores, gobbled by rats. But people still starve to death in this country. This is no way acceptable. To ensure Food Security the Left Front would ensure 5 crores signature in the whole country in which the 19 districts of West Bengal would ensure 1.5 crores signatures. ‘We would reach every household with the demand of Food Security for all, interact with them. People would give their signature to ensure food for millions of lives. We are trying to convince the Prime Minister the actual food situation of the country, said Biman Basu. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, veteran Left Front leader Ashok Ghosh, and other Left Front leaders initiated the signature campaign programme. While speaking on how the UPA government has not fulfilled the promise they once assured to the people of India, the leader of opposition Surya Kanta Misra said that ‘the Presidential speech of the first session after the UPA-II government came in power assured the promulgation of Food Security Act within first 100 days of the government. Time has gone by from 2009 to 2012, but that 100 days never returned’. Biman Basu also said in this context that ‘it was a long standing demand of the Left Front that the country must implement Food Security Act to prevent starvation and death. Although the bill is prepared and tabled but the act is yet to be promulgated’. Misra while criticizing the UPA government said that ‘the government spares no time to ensure food security for its own people whereas it takes no time to implement FDI in retail sector. It takes a minute to hike the price of Petrol, Diesel and Cooking Gas’. The signature campaign programme in its inaugural day has however witnessed people’s spontaneous participation. From leaders of different parties to the dignitaries of different field of excellence to the common mass the campaign marked its success and promise to succeed the month long programme. The important signatories were Ashok Ghosh, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Biman Basu, Manjukumar Majumder, Kshiti Goswami, Surya Kanta Misra, Rabin Deb, Raghunath Kushari, Avik dutta, Pratim Chatterjee, Manoj Bhattacharya, Subhas Roy, shaibal Chatterjee, Jayanta Roy, Shayamsri Das, former Vice Chancellor Pabitra Sarkar, Shubhankar Chakraborty, Ashok Nath Basu, Dilip Basu, Malini Bhattacharya, litterateur Abul Bashar, film director Tarun Majumdar etc.

CPI(M) protest in Khamman demanding houses for poor

A protest demonstration by the CPI (M) cadres in pursuit of their demand for allotment of house sites to all the shelterless poor in the town into the office of the Revenue Divisional Officer on Monday. Mild tension prevailed at the entrance of the RDO’s office when the police stopped the protesters from venturing into the building.

Later, the agitated CPI (M) cadres staged a protest demonstration in front of the office denouncing the alleged apathetic attitude of the government towards fulfilling the housing needs of thousands of hapless poor of the town. The leaders of the party's frontal organisations also participated in the demonstration.

Contribution of Communist Party of India (Marxist) at the 14th IMCWP

Intervention of Sitaram Yechury Member Polit Bureau Head, International Department Communist Party of India (Marxist) Dear Comrades, At the very outset allow me to thank the Lebanese Communist Party for not only hosting the 14^th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers' Parties, but also making such splendid arrangements. The importance of this meeting, held here in Lebanon, cannot be lost for any discerned observer. We are meeting here in West Asia (or Middle-East as is commonly referred to by Western observers), at a time when the region is extremely volatile. In fact, there is no better place in the world than this that stands testimony to the imperialist aggression. As we are meeting and discussing the dangers and threats of imperialism, Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing it. Reports are coming out on an hourly basis about the many innocent lives lost in the aerial attacks. Even the injured are fighting for lives due to the non-availability of medicines – thanks to the Israeli blockade. Four years ago, coinciding with the elections in the US, Israel had attacked Gaza, which had resulted in more than thousand dead and many more injured. Barack Obama, the President-elect then, condemned the attack. Today, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama, who won the right to be the President of the US for another four years, is staunchly defending Israel and its 'right to self-defence'. This illustrates how US and Israel are arrogantly appropriating the right to execute anyone they want, anywhere in the world, without any limitations, regardless of how many innocent civilians they kill in the process. It is not just Palestine. Just bordering Lebanon, Syria is another example of imperialist aggression. Now it has been clearly established that imperialist countries are openly arming and helping the rebels to destabilise the Syrian administration. As the people are dying in thousands, imperialist countries are openly planning the distribution of Syrian resources, once the current regime is overthrown and the rebels capture power. This was how they had operated in yet another country in the neighbourhood – Libya. All these go on to show once again that imperialism is the aggressor numero uno. And all these are happening even before the blood stains have dried in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran is the declared target, on whom the Damocles sword is hanging. The reasons for this naked aggressiveness of imperialism cannot be understood unless we consider the political and economic conditions of the contemporary world. Imperialism is using all the means at its disposal – military, economic and political – to come out of the current global economic crisis and ensure that it retains its hegemony over the world. Comrades, Starting from the 10th IMCWP in Brazil, 2008, we had underlined in all our annual meetings that the world is reeling under the severest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The global economic crisis is not a 'one-off' crisis, but a systemic crisis that is deeply rooted in the intrinsic functioning of the capitalist system. Fours years had passed and despite the brave claims made by the leaders of developed countries, the world is yet to come out of this systemic crisis. What we are now witnessing today is in fact, the fifth phase of the present crisis. The raison d etre of capitalism is profit maximisation. In its quest for maximising the profits and come out of the crisis it had found itself in the decade of the 70s, capitalism had initiated neo-liberal economic policies. As a result, the maxim for the State became, 'it is no business for the government to be in business'. With the setback to socialism in Soviet Union and East European countries, the apologists for capitalism propagated that capitalism is here to stay and that there is no alternative (TINA). End of history was proclaimed and neo-liberalism as a philosophy was trumpeted. Market dominance, led by the private corporates was unleashed on the people. This period witnessed intensified exploitation and increasing inequalities within the countries and across the countries. As a result real incomes saw a fall plunging the purchasing power of people into a steep pit. This in fact is the genesis of the present crisis and can be termed as its first phase. Capitalism unable to sell what it had produced, once again found itself in a crisis. To wiggle out of this situation it had designed ingenious methods like providing people with what are called as sub-prime loans. To cover the risks arising from the non­payment of these loans, new forms of financial instruments were evolved. Many financial institutions that were viewed as 'too big to fail', found their books full of these volatile financial instruments. They in fact sat on a volcano that was soon to erupt and erupt it did swallowing all those 'big' financial institutions. This corporate insolvency is the second phase of the crisis. Now, when the financial corporates collapse, taking down the stock market – regarded as a thermometer for market sentiment – it is bound to adversely affect the interests of capitalism. We find a situation where private capitalists who were till then shouting against government interference, at once demanding the government to bail them out. The capitalist State, true to its class character, came out in defence of these big financial corporates and bailed them out with huge packages. States that did not have any monies for enacting pro-people policies suddenly found trillions of dollars to rescue the financial institutions. While these financial institutions collapsed sinking the dreams of millions of tax payers who had invested their pensions and hard earned savings in them, the very money of these people – taxes paid to the government – is used to bail out these financial giants and ensure that they do not lose. This is the third phase in the current global crisis that rapidly led to the fourth phase. By undertaking huge and unprecedented bailout packages for those very corporates who, in the first place, caused the financial meltdown, developed countries incurred huge amounts of debts surpassing their GDPs. Thus, global capitalism sought to overcome the crisis by converting corporate insolvencies into sovereign insolvencies. This, in turn, has intensified the crisis today plunging the world economy into a state of uncertainty. Now we are in the fifth phase of the crisis, where the governments to wiggle out of the morass they find themselves in, impose what they term as 'austerity measures'. These are in fact nothing but a naked attack on the hard won rights of the working people. Retirement ages are raised, pensions and wages froze, widespread retrenchment became the norm, accentuating the already severe unemployment prevalent in many countries. This attack on the economic rights won by the working class is complemented by an attack on their social and political rights. The right to organise, strike and oppose the policies of the government are curtailed. Trade unions are repressed and political parties are painted black. The formation of 'technocrat' government in Italy, exemplifies this philosophy. Capitalism to defend its actions launches an intense ideological campaign. Attempts to rewrite history, malign communism as a theory by equating it with fascism, trying to negate the achievements of socialism are all part of such ploys. They thus intend to rob the working class of its historical legacy and deny it the ideological weapon to fight capitalist system. But as history had repeatedly shown and recent events once again testify, working class will not be fooled forever by such trickery. The 'austerity measures' introduced in many of the countries are indeed an attempt by the ruling classes to transfer the burden of the crisis on to the shoulders of the working class and common people. As the burden of sovereign debt in the name of 'austerity' is passed on to the common people, their purchasing power correspondingly declines. Combined with the growth of unemployment, this leads to a sharp contraction in domestic demand. Further, this global crisis has drastically reduced global trade. With the contraction of domestic demand in all the major economic powers, the contraction of GDP is inevitable. This, in turn, will lead to a contraction in governmental revenues, imposing further debt. The servicing of this would lead to imposing further burdens on the people. This vicious cycle has been set in motion. Reports are already emanating that Europe is now in double dip recession. It was officially accepted by European Union officials when they announced that the Euro zone was officially back in recession after a 0.1% fall in output in the third quarter. This follows a 0.2% drop in gross domestic product in the second quarter. For the first time, the reports also point out that this phenomenon was not confined to the 'southern' countries and 'peripheral' economies. Germany's growth rate has slowed since the start of 2012. France's economy is stuttering, earning it the sobriquet that it is 'the time-bomb ticking among the European economies' from The Economist. But the most important and serious observation that the recent data provides is that the 'triple A' rated Netherlands too saw a sharp 1.1% quarterly fall in GDP, which was more than five times the expected drop. Austria too is following a similar path. All these, apart from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus which saw their economies contract in the third quarter, shows that the contagion is spreading from the periphery to the core. On the other side of the Atlantic too the situation is not rosy. The USA and, indeed, the global economy are bracing itself to face the consequences of what is called the US “fiscal cliff”. If both the Republican and Democrat lawmakers do not arrive at any agreement, as it appears to be, the newly re-elected President Obama would be helpless. The levy of new taxes and automatic spending cuts are set to take effect from the beginning of 2013. This will lead to a severe contraction of the US economy. The impact would be devastating leading, according to some analysts, to as much as 4 to 6 per cent decline in the US GDP. Such a falling of the 'cliff' would push not only the USA into prolonged recession but lead to a global economic devastation. The Fitch, a rating agency, says that this would push the global economy into recession and “halve the rate of global growth in 2013”. On the top of these two catastrophes awaiting to happen – the double dip recession of the EU and the US fiscal cliff – in 2014 Greece, Portugal and Spain have to re-service their debts. This, they cannot. In order to adhere to their promises made to the international funding agencies like the IMF and ECB, they will be forced to accept further more conditions and increase the burdens imposed on their people. This will adversely affect the livelihoods of the people by further impoverishing them. Convergence of all these three elements is what is making this global economic crisis more acute and whatever efforts capitalism is making to come out of the current crisis are bound to fail. It is in this background that imperialism is becoming more and more aggressive – to bring under its control all the major pockets of natural resources, trading routes and world market. The military aggression in Middle-East, attempts to scuttle the popular uprisings, increase its military presence in Asia-Pacific, establish military bases across the world, particularly in Latin America are all part of this game-plan. But as the global developments point out people are not taking the attacks on their livelihoods and aspirations lying down. They are coming out in big numbers and forcing changes worldwide. The popular protests that we had witnessed in West Asia/North Africa; the strike actions, protests, demonstrations in Europe and other parts of the world; and the recent re-election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, all point to the mood of resistance amongst the people. It is this urge to resist and change the world for better that needs to be harnessed by us, Communists. As Marx had taught us and Lenin had subsequently proved in practice, capitalism will not collapse on its own. It has to be overthrown. This requires the united action of all the exploited forces, led by the working class. It is only through adherence to Marxism-Leninism – the only theoretical weapon that guides the working class in the struggle for systemic change – and 'concrete analysis of the concrete conditions', as Lenin had taught us, can we strengthen the subjective factor for the overthrow of capitalism. There is no better time than now to change the world. Socialism is the future, let us bring it now!
Long Live Marxism-Leninism.

The Fourteenth meeting of the International Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP)

Beirut Declaration
 The Fourteenth meeting of the International Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP) was held in Beirut, Lebanon’s Capital, between the 22^nd and the 25^th of November 2012, under the banner:

“Strengthen the struggles against escalating imperialist aggressiveness, for satisfying peoples’ socio-economic-democratic rights and aspirations, for socialism”.

 

The meeting was attended by 84 delegates, representing 60 parties, from 44 countries from the five continents of the world – while letters of apology were sent by those parties unable to attend due to circumstances beyond their control.

The meeting, follows the extraordinary meeting which was held in the Arab region, in Syria 2009, about Palestine within a three year period, and constitutes a new opportunity for the Communist and Workers' Parties to express their continued solidarity and support for the struggle of the working class and the popular struggles and uprisings in the Arab countries against imperialist aggressions and big capital and for democratic change. The discussions, which took place during the meeting, contributed to the exchange of views regarding unfolding developments worldwide and to agreement on the development of common and convergent actions aiming to effect a revolutionary struggle for socialism.

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The 14^th meeting of the International Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP) re-asserted its earlier statements issued during previous meetings between 2008 and 2011 regarding the capitalist crisis of capital overproduction and over accumulation, the root of which lies in the sharpening of the main contradictions between capital and labour, which continued to deepen and intensify. The different bourgeois versions for the management of the crisis have failed to bring it under control; all of them have the same barbaric effects for the people's rights. The imperialist reaction to the crisis is being marked by a multifaceted offensive of imperialism against the social, economic, democratic and national rights of the peoples, an offensive that aims to destroy the achievements won by the workers' and people's struggles during the XX century and to intensive  the level of exploitation and oppression.

This fact, in combination with the increased aggression of imperialism and the expansion of the imperialist wars, the realignments in the international correlation of forces where the relative weakening of the position of the USA co- exist with the growing economic and political power of several countries raises a group of issues which indicate that the world is, once again, at a critical and dangerous junction where the contradictions and the competitions are intensifying, and where great dangers coexist with real opportunities for the development of the workers and peoples' struggle.

In this regard, it is useful to pose the question: how does the universal, increased, imperialist aggression manifest itself, militarily, politically, economically and socially and what forms does it take?

Firstly, imperialism is pursuing an offensive that aims at large-scale destruction of economic, social, political, cultural and national rights, and a regression in the correlation of forces even more in favor of capital and against labour. Massive operations are under way to further concentrate and centralize capital. At the same time far reaching attacks are launched against social and labour rights, with massive cuts in salaries, massive unemployment, privatization and destruction of social functions of States, the privatization of nearly all the sectors of the economy and areas of social life. This anti-social offensive is accompanied by an unprecedented offensive against the democratic, national and ecological rights of the peoples.

In particular, the attack against the labour, economic and social rights of women has sharpened, provoking a brutal worsening in the conditions of life both in public and private fields. Addressing and defeating this aggression is crucial, because the struggle for the real equality of women is a vital part in the struggle against capitalism.

Secondly, it should be stressed that the reassertion of Barack Obama in the UN, where he stated that his country will not “withdraw” from the world, agrees with the program approved by NATO at its latest Chicago summit effectively implying an increased military imperialist intervention throughout the world under the slogan of “clever defense”.  This includes launching the first phase of “rocket shield” or “star wars” in Europe and the global anti-missile shield program, direct military intervention in Libya, intermittent threats against Iran and DPR of Korea, increased military activity, aggressions and provocations in the Middle East, the Asia Pacific zone and throughout the African continent, intensified imperialistic militarism in Latin America and the Caribbean. The intensification of hostility and the blockade against Cuba continues, as well as the plots against Venezuela.

Thirdly, this campaign of military aggression is accompanied by insolent and public political interventions in the affairs of most countries worldwide. These interventions are manifested by the use of capital and influence in order to distort and falsify the will of the people, in order to manipulate, intimidate and prevent the representatives chosen by the people from reaching power.  Imperialist forces do not hesitate from employing the worst tools in order to reach their goals, including organizing terrorist attacks, military coups, allying themselves with neo-fascist powers, promoting political - religious powers, and the various counter-revolutionary forces of different ideological backgrounds - all for the sake of exerting imperialist control throughout the planet, by redrawing borders and rearranging sectoral markets, especially the energy market with its oil and gas resources and transportation routes.  

Fourthly, this military aggression campaign is also accompanied by the intensification of the aggressiveness, such as employing the full resources of various international agencies and organizations, and in particular the IMF, World Bank, and the European Union with a view to safeguard the power of Big Capital.  In order to guarantee its interests and objectives, in addition to further developing its aggression and insolent interventions in the countries of the world, the global capitalist regime is adamant on waging war on the international working class and their representatives, through a variety of measures including:

• A denial of the basic human right to work, and the associated gains achieved by the working class.

• A global ideological and media offensive aiming to restrain the workers and people struggles and persecute all the social and political forces that struggle against imperialism, specially the Communist and Workers’ Parties.

• Concerted efforts and actions in violation of all that is included in the UN charter and in the “Universal declaration of human rights”, which have been formed in conditions of a different correlation of forces thanks to the presence of the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries.

Fifthly, in the context of this over reaching, global imperialistic aggression, attention must be paid to the manner in which it is manifesting itself in the Middle East through the project of “the New Middle East” which aims at re-dividing the region and its people into ethnic and religious groups, constantly fighting each other. This in turn allows the appropriation of the natural resources found in this region and particularly the oil and gas resources. The military wars and occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, and of the Israeli aggressions on Lebanon and against the people of Palestine are an inseparable part of the imperialistic "Big Middle East' project. In addition, it is within the context of this project that recent developments should be analyzed including 1.The escalation in the rate of the USA and European Union imperialist threats of military intervention in Iran, and against Syria, taking advantage of both violence acts being perpetuated against civilians and relying on the forces which are supported by the imperialists, 2. the continued efforts to control the path of the uprisings which have occurred over the past two years in several of the Arab countries and, in particular, Egypt and Tunisia, through the use of sectarianism, racism and prejudice as well as the forever-obliging petro-dollars of all Arabian Gulf regimes.

These developments, and their potential consequences, exert pressure on the working class and communist and Workers’ parties to carry out their historic responsibilities of confronting the capitalist system and imperialist aggression.  This confrontation, which must take place in different countries separately, and on the international level, is necessary in order to conquer anti-monopolist and anti-imperialist ruptures and achievements and, succeed in building socialism, as specified by the thirteenth International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, held in December 2011 in Athens.

The confrontation with imperialism dictates the strengthening of the cooperation and solidarity of our Parties and the definition of our common goals and guidelines of struggle on the one hand, and the convergent action with the various anti-imperialist forces and mass movements, including Unions, Women, Youth and Intellectual organizations, on the other hand.

In Latin America, the anti-imperialist forces, the trade union and other social movements continue their struggles for people’s rights and against imperialism. These struggles, that are the target of a counter-offensive of imperialism, led, in some cases, to the emergence of governments that declare themselves programmatically in defense of national sovereignty and of social rights, for the development and protection of their natural resources and biodiversity, considering that they give new impetus to anti imperialistic struggle.

This universal confrontation also dictates the organization of the working people in the workplace and the trade unions, the strengthening of the class oriented movement the promotion of the alliance of the working class with the oppressed popular strata, the intensification of the struggle of the international working class and the peoples of the world. In order to impede the anti- people measures  and promote goals of struggle that meet the contemporary people's needs, demands a counter attack for anti- monopoly and anti- imperialist ruptures for the overthrow of capitalism.

The ideological struggle of the communist movement is of vital importance in order to defend and develop scientific socialism, to repulse contemporary anti- communism, to confront bourgeois ideology, and all alien tendencies, anti- scientific theories and opportunist currents which reject the class struggle; and combat the role of social democratic forces that defend and implement anti- people and pro- imperialist policies by supporting the strategy of capital and imperialism. The understanding of the unified character of the duties of the struggle for social, national and class emancipation, for the distinct promotion of the socialist alternative requires the ideological counteroffensive of the communist movement.

Considering the capitalist crisis and its consequences the international experiences from the socialist construction prove the superiority of socialism. We underline our solidarity with the peoples who struggle for socialism and are involved in the construction of socialism.

Based on all the above, we stress the need to focus on the following joint actions:

1. Struggling to confront the new plans of imperialism on the military, political, economic and social levels in order to prevent it from controlling the world and destroying it.
2. Rallying for the removal of NATO military bases and the right of withdrawal from the imperialist alliances.
3. Expressing class solidarity with and providing support to strengthen the working class and popular struggles in the capitalist countries against the policies that put further burdens on people and for winning benefits for improving the livelihoods of the workers and peoples effecting revolutionary change.
4. Reasserting international solidarity with democratic popular movements and uprisings in the face of occupation and oppressive regimes; and the adamant rejection of imperialist intervention in these countries.
5. Confronting anti-communist laws, measures and persecution; waging an ideological struggle against the revision of history, for reasserting the contribution of the communist and labour movement in human history.
6. Condemning the US blockade of Cuba and supporting Cuba’s struggle for its immediate lifting. Strengthening the campaigns for the release and return of the five Cuban patriots to Cuba.
7. Condemning the ongoing atrocities perpetuated by the Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian people, supporting their right in resisting occupation, and building their independent state, Jerusalem as a capital, and strengthening the campaign for the immediate lifting of the blockade against Gaza and for the Right of Return.
8. Promoting the international front against imperialism and the support for the international anti-imperialist mass organizations, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), the World Peace Council (WPC), the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), and the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF), in the specific framework of every country.

CPI(M) flays Congress for the miseries of the people in Andhra

CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu called upon the people to revolt against the Congress government, as it had failed to meet their aspirations.Com Raghavulu held a walk for about six km from Isnapur to Patancheru on Saturday to know the problems being faced by the people.

During his walk, he has also interacted with people and visited pollution treatment plant.

Later addressing a gathering at Patancheru, Com Raghavulu said that the government left the people to their fate and not bothered to address their problems. He said that both TDP and YSRC were indulged in mutual mud-slugging while the TRS was confined only to Telangana issue and not bothered about public issues.

“Only CPI(M) has been trying to find out the problems of the people and bring them to the notice of the officials to get them addressed,’’ he said. He also demanded the government provide Manjeera drinking water to all villages in the district.

Left Parties to intesify the struggle against FDI in retail sector

The Left parties on Saturday called upon people to join their rally in New Delhi on December 3 against the UPA government decisions on FDI in multi-brand retail, replacement of subsidy by cash transfer, rising inflation and capping the number of subsidized LPG cylinders. They have also called a two-day statewide agitation in Bihar on February 20 to press their demands.

Speaking at a state-level convention of CPI, CPM, Forward Block and RSP held at Patna CPIM general secretary Prakash Karat said the UPA-II has been anti-people all through.  Karat hoped all the political parties opposing FDI would vote against the government in parliament on December 5. He said the Left parties would also seek a vote over RBI amendments in Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to facilitate FDI in multi-brand retail. Ahead of the vote in Parliament on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said here on Saturday that since parties with a majority were opposed to the policy, there was no consensus among the allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the issue. 

Addressing supporters at the meeting, he said, “Besides the Congress and its allies, namely the Nationalist Congress Party and the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, all the others have taken a stand against FDI. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, its biggest ally, is also against FDI. So where is the consensus?” After the FDI vote, the Left parties will target the proposed amendment to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations to allow FDI in retail. “The Supreme Court has said the Reserve Bank of India should have amended the FEMA regulations to bring in FDI. We will ask for a vote on this too,” he said. 

Accusing the UPA of bowing to pressure from the U.S. and the foreign capitalists, Mr. Karat said the UPA went back on its promise of discussing with parties and governments to build a consensus on the issue and took a “one-sided” decision to allow FDI. 

“This government has been trying to bring Walmart and other supermarkets since 2004. The decision was stalled due to stiff opposition. When Pranab Mukherjee was the Finance Minister, he had assured that the decision would be suspended and a consensus would be created through consultation with other parties. But in September, the one-sided decision to allow FDI was taken. Of the 28 States whose opinion was sought, only nine backed it. What economic freedom will we have if foreign giants like Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour capture our markets?” he asked, likening the fight against FDI to the freedom struggle.Terming the policy as “antinational” and “anti-people”, Mr. Karat said the government’s claim of creating one crore jobs was “a blatant lie.” 

“In the U.S., a Walmart supermarket employs an estimated 200 to 250 people. And in India, a small shop would have around three employees. If a Walmart comes in an area, it will employ 200 people, but 1,300 shops in the vicinity will be shut, resulting in job losses for around 4,000 people. This is not just an attack on small businesses, it will impact the industry and agriculture.” 

As almost two of the four crore estimated retailers are concentrated in the 53 cities, rolling out FDI in 53 cities would affect a large number of them. The policy was not in farmer’s interest but in the interest of the US and Walmart, he said. he Left parties would mobilise people against the “damaging” policy. “We will not allow a single Walmart store to open. Our slogan will be ‘Stop Walmart’,” Mr. Karat said. 

Highlighting the pressing problems of inflation, poverty and unemployment, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan asked, “Is this (FDI) our priority? The government has not given any thought to its impact on livelihoods. The big retail giants have been looting the world in the name of retail trade. We don’t to give them space in India.” 

Both the leaders criticised the government’s decision of direct cash transfer for subsidies and entitlements and reiterated the demand for universal public distribution system. The joint convention on FDI saw the participation of the CPI (M), CPI, CPI (ML) and the All India Forward Block.

CPI(M) Fire chain stir against Price Rise and LPG Subsidy Cut

CPI(M) Kerala State committee organised fire chain protest in 775 km in the National Highway starting from Manjeswaram in the North to the Parassala in the south as part of  agitation against price rise and LPG subsidy cut.  State-wide agitation ‘Agnisringhala’ (chain of fire) on Saturday, against price rise of essential commodities and restriction on the number of subsidised LPG cylinders, evoked massive response in the state.  As per the initial figures around 30 lakh people  cooked food on one side of the National Highway road against the alleged anti-people policies of Union and State governments.,They set up hearths on the roadside and cooked food using firewood. The activists distributed payasam and steamed tapioca to the people thronged to watch the novel protest. The activists and  people, mostly women and children, took part in lighting earthen hearths along the National Highway at around 4.30 p.m. Nearly one hearth per metre. 

The party described the campaign as a symbolic way of conveying the anger of the common man against the policies of the Centre, including the cut in subsidised LPG and failure to rein in runaway inflation.

Party leaders claimed the response had been overwhelming and spontaneous as food was cooked on nearly one million brick or stone hearths set up on the western side of highways from Manjeswaram in the north to Parassala in the south.

Participating in the protest were wives of leader of opposition V.S. Achuthanandan and state secretary of Kerala CPI-M Pinarayi Vijayan, who cooked rice and tapioca in temporary ovens set up in the heart of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. cum Vijayan launched the protest at 4.30 p.m. He was later joined by Achuthanandan

.

"Generally it's the males in our party who take to the streets. But the restriction of six LPG cylinders and the price rise is affecting women in every family," said Pinarayi Vijayan's wife Kamala Vijayan.

The cooked food was later distributed among all those present. CPI-M politburo member M.A. Baby and his wife Betty Baby also joined the protest. In Manjeswaram town of Kasargode district that borders Karnataka, CPI-M's district secretary K.P.Satish Chandran led the protesters, while in Kalyikavilla that borders Tamil Nadu, CPI-M state committee member A. Nagappan led the protest.

Oppose Cash Transfers as substitutes for Public goods

Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

 

The direct cash transfer scheme described by the Congress as a “game changer” is indeed a game changer whose rules are weighted against the poor, in favour of the UPA-2 Government’s obsessive commitment to cut subsidies to the working people. The Government has declared that this policy will, once the “system is in place” be extended to food and fertiliser. In a period of high inflation, cash transfers to replace public goods such as these is to actually cut subsidies since the cash to be transferred will not cover the increased costs of the same amount of subsidized foodgrains. This will have an adverse impact on increasing malnutrition and hunger. The CPI(M) strongly opposes such a policy shift away from provision of foodgrains, kerosene, fertilizers etc instead of providing for a universal PDS at controlled prices.

 

The CPI(M) also objects to linking MNREGA wages to the AADHAR card. As has been repeatedly pointed out by experts, biometric identification for manual workers has a high twenty per cent margin of error as fingerprints of such workers change. It is a similar problem for senior citizens. Without any discussion in Parliament on the proposed Bill for UID to push through such changes, which will have far reaching implications for manual workers is unacceptable.

 

As far as scholarships, pensions etc are concerned, most of these schemes are already cash transfer schemes through bank accounts and are fiscal neutral. The amounts and also the coverage should be increased and linked to the price index.

Discuss Issues Raised by Delhi University Teachers

The Left Parties – Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party – have issued the following statement:

The situation in Delhi University is a cause for serious concern.  The Vice Chancellor and the University authorities have introduced a series of measures without proper discussions and consultations with the teaching and academic community.  The teachers have raised a range of objections to the introduction of the semester system for the undergraduate level, a four-year graduation along with the meta college and meta university system.  All these are being pushed through in undue haste. Statutory procedures and established democratic academic practices have been subverted.

These reforms are being pushed through, along with large-scale contractualisation of teachers.  There have been no regular appointments made for 4,000 teaching posts and 5,000 non-teaching posts. 

The Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), which is the elected body of all the teachers, has been conducting a peaceful protest against these measures.  The Vice Chancellor and the university authorities have resorted to pay cuts and other coercive measures even when teachers have participated in protests on holidays.  This is patently illegal.  The DUTA has been conducting a relay hunger strike which has now completed 50 days. The Vice Chancellor has refused to recognize and talk to the DUTA leadership.

The decision taken by the university can adversely affect the thousands of students in the colleges affiliated to the university.  The university should not take the position that it will not discuss with the DUTA on all these matters.

Delhi University is a Central Government university.  The Left parties appeal to the Minister for Human Resources Development to immediately intervene and ensure that the issues raised by the DUTA are taken up for discussions by the university authorities.  There should be an immediate halt to the coercive steps such as pay cuts.

50000 ‘scheme workers’ start the day and night sit in at Jantar Mantar

 

The ‘mahapadav’ of more than 50000 ‘scheme workers’ , most of them women, including anganwadi workers and helpers, ASHAs, mid day meal workers, Child Labour Project teachers, Krishak Sathis, para teachers, Sakti Sahayikas, Yashodas/ Mamathas, IKP Animators, Grameen Rojgar Sevaks, etc has started at Jantar Mantar at 11.00 AM on 26th November 2012.

These 50000 workers are here to highlight the common demands of the around 1 crore ‘scheme workers’ employed in different schemes/ programmes of the government of India - recognition as workers, minimum wages, social security benefits and regularisation, raising the slogan - ‘No to honorarium or Incentive; we demand Minimum Wages and Social Security Benefits’

These workers have come from all over the country including from far off states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal, and also from Jammu and Kashmir, in addition to all the ‘Hindi speaking’ states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Delhi with the largest contingents coming from Haryana and Punjab.

Around 10000 ‘scheme workers’ from far off places who have reached the national capital earlier and were camping at Ramlila Maidan marched in an attractive and disciplined procession to Jantar Mantar while all the others reached Jantar Mantar directly.

Hemalata, secretary, CITU welcomed this unprecedented mobilisation of ‘scheme workers’ being organised by Centre of Indian Trade Unions. Tapan Sen, MP and general secretary of CITU inaugurated the ‘mahapadav’ while AK Padmanabhan, presided. National office bearers of CITU, Neelima Maitra and AR Sindhu, president and general secretary of All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers and state level leaders of ASHAs, mid day meal workers were on the dais.

Addressing the gathering AK Padmanabhan called upon all the scheme workers to unitedly fight against the neoliberal policies of the government which led to increasing exploitation of all workers. He called upon them to join with all the other sections of the workers to intensify the struggle against these policies.

Inaugurating the ‘mahapadav’, Tapan Sen said the government of India was committing a fraud upon the people through its inhuman exploitation of the workers who were providing the most important services related to health, education, food and nutrition for the people, particularly for the poor women and children. The workers who contributed to the human development of the country were forced to starve and suffer because of this atrocious attitude of the government which called them ‘social workers’, ‘activists’, ‘friends’, ‘guests’ etc just to deny them the status of workers.

Tapan Sen demanded that these services should be provided as rights and entitlements to all the citizens and not through ‘schemes’ and ‘programmes’ which can be withdrawn any time as per the whims and fancies of the government of the day and that all the workers in different government schemes should be recognised as workers with all the attendant benefits including minimum wages and social security benefits.

A team of 11 CITU leaders including Hemalata, Varalakshmi, national secretaries, Mercy Kutti Amma, vice president of CITU, Surender Malik, Pramod Pradhan, Prem Nath Rai, general secretaries of the state committees of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively, Uma Maheswara Rao, Tapan Sharma, Gajendra Jha and Radha Raman Sarangi, office bearers of the Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chattisgarh and Odisha state committees of CITU and Deven Patel, leader of the state government employees and anganwadi employees in Chattisgarh started a fast  for two days, during the duration of the ‘mahapadav’ in solidarity with the demands of the ‘scheme workers’.

AR Sindhu, general secretary of AIFAWH said that the exploitation of the ‘scheme workers’ was the biggest scam in the country. Ranjana Nirula, treasurer of CITU and convenor of the all India coordination committee of ASHAS criticised the government for exploiting the services of lakhs of women workers on the name of ‘social work’. Neelima Maitra, president of AIFAWH spoke on the need of all scheme workers to come together.

K Varada Rajan, general secretary of All India Kisan Sabha along with other kisan leaders, Pawan Kumar, organising secretary of BMS greeted the gathering on the first day.