1. On the Establishment of Legislative Assembly for Andaman & Nicobar Islands
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) notes that India being the largest democratic country should provide its people in its various parts with structures of elected governance to address their concerns. But even after the passage of over six decades after independence, the government of India has failed to provide a democratic set-up with a legislature for the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
The Congress notes with concern that bureaucrats reign supreme in the Island territory on the basis of their own subjective whims and fancies. The people have no say at all in the governance of the Union Territory. The budgets allotted by the Union Government are also not being properly used in the benefit of the people. This came under sharp focus in the aftermath of Tsunami and consequently the relief and rehabilitation suffered severely.
The Party Congress feels that people of the Islands in general and the working people and the poor in particular are deprived of their legitimate demands and democratic rights. Democratic public opinion in the Islands has been time and again, demanding the establishment of a legislative assembly for many years. Attempts have been made by CPI (M) MPs in the Parliament for accepting this demand. But these have not yielded any fruitful result because of the lack of positive response from successive governments at the Centre.
The Party Congress believes that unless a legislative assembly on the lines of Puducherry is provided for the A & N Islands, the problems of islanders cannot be redressed in a democratic manner. Significantly, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his visit to the Islands had assured an all-party meeting that this demand would be given a due consideration.
Therefore, the Congress urges upon the Government of India to take immediate measures to provide legislative assembly for the Island territory on the Puducherry model thereby fulfilling aspirations of the island's citizens.
The Congress notes with concern that bureaucrats reign supreme in the Island territory on the basis of their own subjective whims and fancies. The people have no say at all in the governance of the Union Territory. The budgets allotted by the Union Government are also not being properly used in the benefit of the people. This came under sharp focus in the aftermath of Tsunami and consequently the relief and rehabilitation suffered severely.
The Party Congress feels that people of the Islands in general and the working people and the poor in particular are deprived of their legitimate demands and democratic rights. Democratic public opinion in the Islands has been time and again, demanding the establishment of a legislative assembly for many years. Attempts have been made by CPI (M) MPs in the Parliament for accepting this demand. But these have not yielded any fruitful result because of the lack of positive response from successive governments at the Centre.
The Party Congress believes that unless a legislative assembly on the lines of Puducherry is provided for the A & N Islands, the problems of islanders cannot be redressed in a democratic manner. Significantly, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his visit to the Islands had assured an all-party meeting that this demand would be given a due consideration.
Therefore, the Congress urges upon the Government of India to take immediate measures to provide legislative assembly for the Island territory on the Puducherry model thereby fulfilling aspirations of the island's citizens.
2. Against RSS-BJP Communal Agenda
This 20th Congress of the CPI (M) notes with grave concern, the misuse of the Government machinery in BJP-ruled States to advance the communal BJP-RSS agenda. In addition, the BJP-RSS continues its communal propaganda in other States also.
The 20th Party Congress holds the hate propaganda of the RSS and its many fronts responsible for the rise of Hindutva terror groups, many of which had used BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh as a base for training. The utter hypocrisy of the RSS combine's claims to be a patriotic force against terrorism is thoroughly exposed by the fact that many RSS pracharaks are accused in the cases of bomb explosions in Malegaon, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif and the Samjhauta train blasts in which hundreds of innocent people were killed. While demanding speedy trial and punishment in these cases, the 20th Party Congress calls upon the Central Government to adequately compensate all those Muslim youth who were wrongly accused and jailed for months and years in these cases.
This Party Congress demands justice for the victims of the Gujarat genocide. Justice continues to be subverted for the families of the victims who were brutally killed in the communal violence of 2002. Many of those guilty continue to occupy high office. Every pressure is being brought to save Narendra Modi, Chief Minister from being named as an accused in the Gulbarg Society case, even though there is sufficient evidence of his complicity in the violence. On the contrary, officers who want to give witness against him are being threatened in various ways. This Party Congress demands an end to the subversion of law by the Narendra Modi Government.
There has been an increase on attacks on the rights of minorities as well as communal incidents targeting minority communities in States under BJP rule as in the Mangalore region of Karnataka. Here, churches have been destroyed while a special target of attack has been friendship between students of different communities.
This Party Congress notes with concern that in other States ruled by the BJP, like Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Karnataka, public money is being channeled to NGOs sponsored by the RSS, to help them to spread their communal agenda. In Madhya Pradesh, valuable land has been given to such communal outfits. In addition, secular welfare schemes like mid-day meal schemes or anganwadi centres are sought to be communalized through the introduction of Hindu rituals and recitation of mantras within the functioning of the scheme. The study of the Bhagwat Gita is made compulsory in Madhya Pradesh. In the name of cultural and social programmes young children are made to participate in programmes like Guru Dakshina, thread ceremonies etc., all associated with brahamanical rituals. These create problems for children of the oppressed castes. In particular RSS sponsored NGOs are helped to introduce such Hinduised rituals in adivasi areas to weaken adivasi cultures and diverse forms of worship of their own deities linked to nature.
The civil and police administration are being communalized and brought under RSS control in order to achieve these aims. Making it legal for Government servants to attend RSS shakhas is actually an encouragement to them to do so.
This 20th Congress of the CPI(M) pledges to fight communalism of all shades. It pledges to make special efforts to combat this danger in the BJP-ruled States. It pledges to expose the fact that the Sangh Parivar and other communal groups are also the greatest proponents and supporters of anti-people neo-liberal policies.
The 20th Party Congress holds the hate propaganda of the RSS and its many fronts responsible for the rise of Hindutva terror groups, many of which had used BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh as a base for training. The utter hypocrisy of the RSS combine's claims to be a patriotic force against terrorism is thoroughly exposed by the fact that many RSS pracharaks are accused in the cases of bomb explosions in Malegaon, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif and the Samjhauta train blasts in which hundreds of innocent people were killed. While demanding speedy trial and punishment in these cases, the 20th Party Congress calls upon the Central Government to adequately compensate all those Muslim youth who were wrongly accused and jailed for months and years in these cases.
This Party Congress demands justice for the victims of the Gujarat genocide. Justice continues to be subverted for the families of the victims who were brutally killed in the communal violence of 2002. Many of those guilty continue to occupy high office. Every pressure is being brought to save Narendra Modi, Chief Minister from being named as an accused in the Gulbarg Society case, even though there is sufficient evidence of his complicity in the violence. On the contrary, officers who want to give witness against him are being threatened in various ways. This Party Congress demands an end to the subversion of law by the Narendra Modi Government.
There has been an increase on attacks on the rights of minorities as well as communal incidents targeting minority communities in States under BJP rule as in the Mangalore region of Karnataka. Here, churches have been destroyed while a special target of attack has been friendship between students of different communities.
This Party Congress notes with concern that in other States ruled by the BJP, like Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Karnataka, public money is being channeled to NGOs sponsored by the RSS, to help them to spread their communal agenda. In Madhya Pradesh, valuable land has been given to such communal outfits. In addition, secular welfare schemes like mid-day meal schemes or anganwadi centres are sought to be communalized through the introduction of Hindu rituals and recitation of mantras within the functioning of the scheme. The study of the Bhagwat Gita is made compulsory in Madhya Pradesh. In the name of cultural and social programmes young children are made to participate in programmes like Guru Dakshina, thread ceremonies etc., all associated with brahamanical rituals. These create problems for children of the oppressed castes. In particular RSS sponsored NGOs are helped to introduce such Hinduised rituals in adivasi areas to weaken adivasi cultures and diverse forms of worship of their own deities linked to nature.
The civil and police administration are being communalized and brought under RSS control in order to achieve these aims. Making it legal for Government servants to attend RSS shakhas is actually an encouragement to them to do so.
This 20th Congress of the CPI(M) pledges to fight communalism of all shades. It pledges to make special efforts to combat this danger in the BJP-ruled States. It pledges to expose the fact that the Sangh Parivar and other communal groups are also the greatest proponents and supporters of anti-people neo-liberal policies.
3. Farmers' Suicides and Agrarian Crisis
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep anguish at the continuing phenomenon of distress-induced suicides among farmers in different parts of India. These suicides of farmers have come to be the most visible manifestation of the crisis of livelihoods that liberalisation and imperialist-led globalisation has unleashed in the Indian countryside after 1991. It is a reflection of the decline in public investment in agriculture, slow growth of agricultural output, adverse terms of trade and decline in the share of cultivators in the value addition.
The 20th Congress of the CPI(M) notes with grave concern that, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), between 1995 and 2010, there were a total of 2,56,913 suicides of Indian farmers. A substantial number of these are related to the impact of the agrarian crisis. There has been no let up in the annual number of farmers' suicides in this period; between 1998 and 2010, in every single year, the total number of farmers' suicides has ranged between about 16,000 and 17,000. In 2010, the total number of farmers' suicides was reported to be 15,964. The largest number of farmers' suicides is happening in five States: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. In 2010, Maharashtra reported 3,141 suicides, Karnataka reported 2,585 suicides, Andhra Pradesh reported 2,525 suicides and Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh together reported 2,363 suicides. Suicides of tenant farmers and women who do not have pattas in their names are wrongly excluded from the category of farmers committing suicides. Every hour two farmers commit suicide, around 20 attempts to commit suicide and around 60 desert agriculture.
The continuation of farmers' suicides across India also shows that the partial debt relief package announced by the UPA government in 2008 was a failure. The package completely left untouched the informal loans taken by the farmers, which constituted more than 50 per cent of the total farm debt. It also ignored the distress faced by the bulk of small and marginal farmers owning more than 2 hectares of dry land. Though seven years have passed since the submission of the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) in 2005, the UPA government has not yet begun to implement them. Much of the agricultural credit today goes to landlords, rich peasants and private companies. This huge diversion of agricultural credit is a gross injustice.
What is most disturbing is that farmers' distress suicides have returned to Kerala and have emerged in Bengal since 2011 after the fall of Left-led governments. The policies of the Left-led governments had provided a sense of confidence to the farmers and weaned them away from the extreme step of suicide. In Kerala, due to the farmer-friendly policies of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government between 2006 and 2011, there was an almost complete end to farmers' suicides. The state's "Debt Relief Commission" that provided relief to all indebted farmers, doubling of the procurement price in a period of five years and expanded procurement, interest-free loans to paddy farmers and, importantly, the improvement in the prices of commercial crops have contributed to this outcome. However, after the United Democratic Front (UDF) came to power in 2011, nearly 50 farmers have committed suicide. In West Bengal, since the Trinamul Congress government came to power in 2011, 42 paddy farmers have committed suicide. This new wave of suicides has been the result of a major failure of procurement of paddy and denial of even the official rates of MSP, which has led farmers to sell in distress and enter new debt cycles.
The farmers of commercial crops like cotton, sugarcane and others are the worst-hit, because they have had to invest heavily in agricultural inputs. The 20th Party Congress expresses its strong protest against the further cuts in fertiliser subsidy to the extent of Rs 6000 crores in the budget 2012-13 at a time when there is a manifold rise in the price of all inputs.
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demands that:
The 20th Congress of the CPI(M) notes with grave concern that, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), between 1995 and 2010, there were a total of 2,56,913 suicides of Indian farmers. A substantial number of these are related to the impact of the agrarian crisis. There has been no let up in the annual number of farmers' suicides in this period; between 1998 and 2010, in every single year, the total number of farmers' suicides has ranged between about 16,000 and 17,000. In 2010, the total number of farmers' suicides was reported to be 15,964. The largest number of farmers' suicides is happening in five States: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. In 2010, Maharashtra reported 3,141 suicides, Karnataka reported 2,585 suicides, Andhra Pradesh reported 2,525 suicides and Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh together reported 2,363 suicides. Suicides of tenant farmers and women who do not have pattas in their names are wrongly excluded from the category of farmers committing suicides. Every hour two farmers commit suicide, around 20 attempts to commit suicide and around 60 desert agriculture.
The continuation of farmers' suicides across India also shows that the partial debt relief package announced by the UPA government in 2008 was a failure. The package completely left untouched the informal loans taken by the farmers, which constituted more than 50 per cent of the total farm debt. It also ignored the distress faced by the bulk of small and marginal farmers owning more than 2 hectares of dry land. Though seven years have passed since the submission of the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) in 2005, the UPA government has not yet begun to implement them. Much of the agricultural credit today goes to landlords, rich peasants and private companies. This huge diversion of agricultural credit is a gross injustice.
What is most disturbing is that farmers' distress suicides have returned to Kerala and have emerged in Bengal since 2011 after the fall of Left-led governments. The policies of the Left-led governments had provided a sense of confidence to the farmers and weaned them away from the extreme step of suicide. In Kerala, due to the farmer-friendly policies of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government between 2006 and 2011, there was an almost complete end to farmers' suicides. The state's "Debt Relief Commission" that provided relief to all indebted farmers, doubling of the procurement price in a period of five years and expanded procurement, interest-free loans to paddy farmers and, importantly, the improvement in the prices of commercial crops have contributed to this outcome. However, after the United Democratic Front (UDF) came to power in 2011, nearly 50 farmers have committed suicide. In West Bengal, since the Trinamul Congress government came to power in 2011, 42 paddy farmers have committed suicide. This new wave of suicides has been the result of a major failure of procurement of paddy and denial of even the official rates of MSP, which has led farmers to sell in distress and enter new debt cycles.
The farmers of commercial crops like cotton, sugarcane and others are the worst-hit, because they have had to invest heavily in agricultural inputs. The 20th Party Congress expresses its strong protest against the further cuts in fertiliser subsidy to the extent of Rs 6000 crores in the budget 2012-13 at a time when there is a manifold rise in the price of all inputs.
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) demands that:
- the recommendations of the National Commission for Farmers (NCF) must be implemented without delay;
- the government should restore subsidies and intervene in the supply of seeds and other agricultural inputs by establishing fair price retail outlets in rural areas, where quality of inputs is assured;
- the public procurement system be expanded, entry of private players in procurement be discouraged and an adequate minimum support price (MSP) based on the recommendations of the NCF be introduced for all crops;
- Small and marginal farmers and tenant farmers be accorded a special sub-quota in the supply of agricultural credit by commercial banks and other financial institutions.
- a comprehensive crop insurance scheme be implemented for all crops and to which all peasants have access;
- The government should institute a fund on the lines of calamity funds to assist farmers affected by crop losses.
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) appeals to peasants in different parts of our country to not take the extreme step of suicide. The personal or social alternative is not suicide, but unity of the working people against liberalisation and imperialist-led globalisation, and the struggle for decent standards of living and a better society. Suicide is no solution; struggle is the way.
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