Convention to be held in Bangalore on November 25
‘Union Government adopting an anti-poor stance’
The State unit president of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), N.L. Bharatraj, announced here on Tuesday that the DYFI would organise a convention in Bangalore on November 25 to urge the Government to make Karnataka a hunger-free State and check the rising prices of essential commodities.
He was speaking to presspersons here. The Government should provide rice/wheat up to 35 kg for every poor family at Rs. 2 a kg every month, Mr. Bharatraj demanded.
The B.S. Yeddyurappa Government should follow the Kerala model where 14 commodities, including oil, detergents and cloth, were sold in ration shops under the Public Distribution System, he said. The Kerala Government had opened over 4,000 shops to sell various products at lower than the market price for the benefit of the poor, he added.
Mr. Bharatraj accused the Union Government of adopting an anti-poor stance, and said it helped the large corporate companies with huge concessions in tax every year. The unit system introduced by the State Government in fair price shops should be scrapped, Mr. Bharatraj demanded.
The DYFI would fight for more effective public distribution system, ensuring food security to the poor, restricting retail multinational chains, punishing hoarders, ensuring effective functioning of midday meal scheme, enhancing daily food allowance to students in SC/ST and BCM hostels, bringing down prices of petrol and diesel, taking up rehabilitation of the flood-affected people in the State and increasing the wage under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act to Rs. 150 by removing the 100-day cap, Mr. Bharatraj said.
Organisations such as the Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane, Krishi Koolikarara Sangha, and Students Federation of India had extended support to the State-level convention, he added.
Secretary of the Kodagu unit of the DYFI P.R. Bharat criticised the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), and said that power failures and unscheduled power cuts had become common in the district.
(courtesy : the hindu)
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