Farmers protest for release of Cauvery water

Over 3,500 members of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam and Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Thozhilalar Sangam affiliated to the two Communist parties were taken into custody from Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts when they tried to block roads and trains demanding release of water in the Cauvery for samba cultivation and compensation for the loss of the ‘kuruvai’ paddy crop on Thursday 16th August

The organisations resorted to the stir at 28 places across Thanjavur district leading  to the arrest of 839 members. At the Thanjavur railway station, Sami Nadarajan, district secretary of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam led to agitation to stop the Mayiladuthurai-Tiruchi Passenger. They were arrested by the police. At Thanjavur old bus stand, cadres led by Shanmugham, state general secretary of the TN Vivasayigal Sangam resorted to a road blockade and courted arrest.

In Tiruvarur district, as many as 1796 members of the farmers’ organisations were arrested. At Tiruvarur junction, cadres led by K.Balakrishnan, state president of the TN Vivasayigal sangam were arrested by the police when they tried to stop Ernakulam-Karaikal Express. At Thiruthuraipoondi CPI(M) Tiruvarur district secretary I.V.Nagarajan led the agitation. They tried to stop Thiruthuraipoondi-Pattukottai passenger. At Needamangalam cadres who tried to stop Nagore-Tiruchi Passenger were arrested by the police. Road blockades were also held at Mannargudi, Kottur, Muthupettai and Peralam.

Rail rokos were organized at Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai too. At Nagapattinam, the Tiruchi bound Karaikal-Tiruchi passenger was blockaded at around 11 a.m, while the Chennai-bound Cholan Express was blockaded at the Mayiladuthurai station. Over 502 people were secured for rail blockade at Nagapattinam, while 60 cadres were secured at Mayiladuthurai.

The  farmers associations pitched their demand for Centre’s intervention in securing early release of Cauvery water. The demonstrators demanded that the government announce a compensation of Rs.10,000 per acre for farmers, and Rs.10,000 per family for farm labourers to compensate for the kuruvai loss. Farm labourers have lost out on wages since June, due to lack of Kuruvai-based agricultural activity, they said.

Road rokos held at Keezhvelur, Keezhayur, Tharangambadi, Sirkazhi, Vedaranyam, Thalainayar, and Thirumarugal witnessed arrests of over 931 cadres, including 332 women across the district.
Source : The Hindu

The Coal Scam

The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on allocation of coal blocks and augmentation of coal production for the year ending March 2012 has come out with startling revelations.

The report has estimated that the allocation of coal blocks was not done in a transparent manner and since July 2004, 142 blocks were allocated to various governments and private parties. According to the CAG, these allocations lacked transparency and objectivity.

As a result, the CAG estimates that the private coal block allottees have made a whopping financial gain to the tune of Rs. 1.86 lakh crores. A substantial part of this could have accrued to the national exchequer if the decision taken way back in June 2004 to introduce competitive bidding for such allocations was implemented. The report notes that till date, the government of India has not finalized the modus operendi of competitive bidding.

Coal, like all other natural resources, is a national reserve. Given the fact that many public sector undertakings and state government undertakings and electricity boards require coal for generating power for the people and the economy, the allocation of coal reserves must be done in such a manner as to meet both the need of the governmental agencies and through a transparent and an objective competitive bidding. The CPI(M) had suggested that the reserves should be so proportioned as to meet both these objectives.

Unfortunately, the refusal by the government of the day to heed this suggestion has led to arbitrariness in coal allocations, paving the way for large-scale corruption through `sweet heart’ deals. The loss to the national exchequer is, thus, larger than the presumptive loss estimated by the CAG in the 2G spectrum scam.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands that the Prime Minister who held the charge of the Coal Ministry for some time when such allocations were made must answer to the Parliament and the nation why the modus operendi for transparent allocations was not worked out. All those guilty of siphoning off huge resources must be identified and brought to book. Strict monitoring and guidelines for the future must be announced with Parliament’s approval.