CPI (M) team completes padayatra : Kurnool, Andra Pradesh

Ex-MLA and others undertake eight-day tour of 51 flood-affected villages in Kurnool district

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Team visits every river bank village along the Tungabhadra and interacts with victims

Comprehensive package demanded for the victims on a par with project oustees

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CPI(M) leader and former MLA M.A. Gafoor urged the government to emulate the Karnataka government in implementing the relief package for flood affected people in the State. The CPI (M) padayatra team led by former MLA M.A. Gafoor returned here after an eight-day tour of 51 villages covering a distance of 250 km.

Overnight stay

The team visited every river bank village along Tungabhadra river and interacted with the victims and stayed in the villages during nights.

Mr. Gafoor explained that their padayatra started with observation at Agasanur on Andhra Pradesh and Karanataka border where the Karnataka government sanctioned an amount of Rs. 35,000 for every household, temporary shed for every affected family with lock and key provision, borewell for every 100 families and Rs. 1.15 lakh for every house.

The Karnataka government engaged NGOs to build the housing units for the victims for speedy completion. On the other hand, the relief allotment in AP villages had gone into the hands of village feudals who stocked all materials in their houses and allotted houses at their will.

He demanded a comprehensive package for the victims on a par with project oustees, and a compensation of Rs 10,000 for each acre of cropped area. He said the AP government had grossly failure to provide succor to the victims.

Waiver of loans

Also, he urged the government to waive loans of farmers, self-help group members, and artisans. Mr. Gafoor urged the government to construction a larger dam across Tungabhadra at Agasanur downstream of RDS anicut to supply water to RDS canal as well as control floods in future. A reservoir with a larger capacity would moderate the flood in the river.

Protest planned

The CPI(M) planned to picket the Collectorate on December 18 pressing for proper relief package for flood victims. CPI(M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu would also participate in the protest.

Other members who participated padayatra along with Mr. Gafoor were J.N.Seshaiah, Ramanjaneyulu, P.S. Radhakrishna and B. Prabhakar.

CPI (M) for more financial devolution to local bodies

CHENNAI: Reiterating its demand for more financial devolution to local bodies, the State unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Saturday said allocation of 30 per cent of the State’s revenue to them was necessary to build infrastructure.

A resolution adopted at the special conference of the leaders of the local bodies organised by the party said the current allocation was 9.5 per cent and the expected increase of 0.5 per cent was totally inadequate.

Another resolution stressed the need for recruiting more employees to commensurate with the workload and development of the local bodies.

Pointing out that a major portion of the funds is used to meet the salaries of local body employees, the conference said many local bodies were not able to meet the expenditure. The conference also urged the State government to adopt direct election to the posts of municipal chairman, town panchayat president and panchayat union chairman, arguing that direct election alone would ensure fair and free elections.

Earlier, inaugurating the conference, Thomas Issac, Finance Minister of Kerala, argued that that the federal structure of India was not sufficient. Democratic decentralisation was the only way that would ensure the direct participation of the people in the administration.

“Democratic decentralisation is a vital piece in the administrative structure. It has many benefits, because local people alone know what they want and someone sitting in Chennai cannot decide what the people living in Kanyakumari want,” he said.

CPI(M) State secretary N. Varadarajan called upon his partymen representing the local bodies to become role models by functioning effectively for the cause of people.

“Your functioning should make the voters feel proud about their choice. Such a feeling alone would be a treasure for the party. It is not only good for the party but also for the country,” he said.

CPI(M)’s State secretariat member G. Ramakrishnan, Noor Mohamed and local body representatives elected on behalf of the party participated in the conference.

(Photo : Gavaskar Theekathir)

Accelerating Inflation in Food Articles

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

Accelerating Inflation in Food Articles

The Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) expresses its deep concern at the galloping food price inflation (WPI), which crossed 19% in the week ending 28^th November. The inflation rate stood at 15.5% in mid-November and 13.3% at the end of October. It is clear that there is accelerating inflation in food articles with the prices of vegetables (particularly potatoes and onions), pulses and cereals witnessing the steepest climb. Over 50 paisa in every rupee spent by an average Indian per day is spent on food and over 60% of India’s population spends less than Rs. 20 per head per day. The intense suffering of the masses in the face of galloping food prices cannot be overemphasized.

India is the only major developing economy in the world where prices are rising. In the backdrop of the global recession, food and fuel prices have been falling across all countries. This exposes the failure and callousness of the Congress led Government.

The galloping food prices are primarily being caused by the corporates and big traders, who are utilising shortages for hoarding and reckless profiteering. The Government has lost control over food prices due to the pursuit of free market policies. The CPI (M) demands that the UPA Government take the following immediate steps in order to reign in food price inflation:

• The Government, in coordination with the State Governments, must launch a countrywide crackdown against hoarding and black-marketing. All private traders of food articles must disclose their stocks and release surplus stocks.
• Futures trading in all food articles must be immediately banned.
• The Government must release cereal stocks through the PDS by increasing the rice and wheat quotas for the States. The Food Security legislation should be tabled without any further delay.
• The Government must supply sugar, pulses and edible oils through PDS outlets at cheap rates.

The CPI (M) will intensify the struggle against price rise till the UPA Government initiates these steps in the coming days.

Statehood no solution to development: Yechury

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday criticised the Centre’s move on Telangana, stating the criterion of language as the basis for reorganisation of States should not be diluted.

Creation of a separate State was not a solution to address the problem of development, CPI(M) Parliamentary Party leader Sitaram Yechury told a press conference here. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were cases in point.

What was required was planning and budgetary support. Development had to be worked out and resources made available for it.

Criticising the Congress’ handling of the Telangana issue, Mr. Yechury said the statehood demand was over four decades old and most of the time it was that party which held power both in Andhra Pradesh and at the Centre.

The creation of smaller States would also affect the federal structure. For, with fewer MPs, such States would make less impact. When all 42 MPs from Andhra Pradesh stood up as a group in the Lok Sabha, they would get greater attention, while the impact would get diluted when there is a division, the CPI(M) leader pointed out.

Conceding a separate Telangana would give rise to similar demands from other regions, be it Harit Pradesh, Gorkhaland or Vidarbha.

(The Hindu)

Demonstration over rising prices in Himachal Pradesh

Shimla: Holding UPA government policies responsible for incessant rise in prices of essential commodities, CPI(M) today held a protest demonstration in the capital where it was demanded to bring out food items from futures contracts in the commodity market and make PDS access for everybody.

Addressing a rally after culmination of a protest march through the Lower Bazar, Nilotpal Basu, said that price rise because of the central government policies had reached alarming proportions. “Food was getting out of reach of the poorest of the poor and nutrition levels of many others were falling drastically,” said Basu. He said that a NSSO sample survey showed that more than 80 crore people were living on a Rs 20 day wage.

He said that a major reason for the price rise was the central government policy to allow futures contracts trading of essential food items.

Rakesh Singha state secretary CPI(M) made a connect between price rise and squeezing of the Public distribution system. “The PDS is being targeted so that the common people are deprived of this opportunity and are forced to fall to the open market ration,” he said. Three successive crop failures resulting in a loss of nearly Rs 1200 crore had left the people very vulnerable and neither the state nor the central government were providing relief, he added.

Ridiculing the state governments sops of declaring 3 extra holidays for women in the state on Bhaiya Dooj, Karva Chauth and Raksha Bandhan, Falma Chauhan state committee member, said “extra holidays do not compensate for access to lesser food on the table which was hurting women the most.”

She further said that the state government had ruined the health services in the state as the Rogi Kalyan Samitis had become instruments for fleecing poor patients. “It is actually is a blatant step towards privatizing healthcare,” she remarked.

(Courtesy : Myhimachal. com)

CPI (M) stands for united AP

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu has said that his party was committed for an integrated Andhra Pradesh.

Replying to queries on the sidelines of a meeting organised in connection with the centenary celebrations of veteran Marxist leader E.M.S. Namboodiripad here on Tuesday, he said that while most other political parties have changed their stand on Telangana, the CPI (M) wouldn’t do so for the sake of gaining seats or power.

He, however, condemned the police lathicharge on students of Osmania University.

Mr. Raghavulu said that the Congress has no clarity on the Telangana issue and held the party responsible for the present crisis.

He blamed Chief Minister K. Rosaiah for first putting the onus on the Congress high command, and later calling for an all-party meeting on the issue but failing to hold any fruitful discussions.

He said that the State government should own moral responsibility for the deteriorating health condition of TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao.

EMS was a man of the masses

E.M.S. Namboodiripad, who can be ranked among the top 10 communist leaders in the country, was not a born communist. He had learnt the Vedas early in life and was later influenced by the Freedom Struggle and Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha, said CPI(M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu.

He recalled the pioneering efforts made by EMS seeking equal rights to women. He realised that women had specific problems associated with childbirth, dowry and disparity in wages. He had strived to eradicate caste system.

Mr. Raghavulu said that EMS had passed orders against police interference in workers strikes and protests by farm labour and tenant farmers, after becoming the Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957.

His objective of protecting the interests of workers and small farmers came in the way of their exploitation by managements and landlords. The NehruGovernment, acting under pressure from landlords and managements, invoked Article 356 of the Constitution and dismissed the democratically elected Kerala Government.

Referring to the present situation, Mr. Raghavulu said that the UPA Government was ready to dance to the tunes of the Obama Government while jeopardising the defence and economy of the nation. He said that UPA was ready to do away with welfare schemes and had failed to take any measures to control the spiralling prices.

He said that the CPI(M) had supported the UPA Government during its last tenure only with the objective of preventing the ‘communal’ BJP from coming to power. The presence of the CPI(M) in the UPA Government had prevented the Centre from acting according to its whims and fancies.

Revenue

He said that AP had got the maximum revenue during the tenure of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy as Chief Minister. It was not because of YSR’ s greatness but as the world economy was booming at that time.

The excise revenue which was Rs.1,200 crores when YSR took over as Chief Minister for the first time, went up to Rs.6,000 crores when he was elected for the second term. The global economic meltdown has hit the State’s economy badly and it was a tough time for Chief Minister Rosaiah, he felt.

CPI(M) District Committee secretary Ch. Narasinga Rao recalled the contribution of EMS as CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and as Chief Minister of Kerala.

He had written several articles which give an insight into his concern for the common man.

CPI(M) city unit secretary Lokanadham was present.

(courtesy : The Hindu)

Struggle against Price Rice in Tamil Nadu

Thousands of activists from CPI and CPI(M) staged protests all over Tamilnadu condemning the hike in the price of essential commodities.
Agitations that took place in various parts of the State saw participation of MPs, MLAs and senior leaders from both the parties. Most of them were arrested.

Photos : Gavaskar, Theekathir

Clarify Position on Climate Change

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

The Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, has over the last two weeks been repeatedly introducing modifications and caveats to India’s fundamental negotiating position on climate change. These are per capita emissions as the basis of negotiations, differentiating between the Annex 1 and non Annex countries and the actions of the developing countries being predicated on the financial and technology transfers from the rich countries. On each of these points, the Minster is now deviating from India's position and even from position that the PM has taken on these issues.

At the end of the debate in the Lok Sabha, the Minister was dismissive of India’s stand on per capita emissions as the basis for equitable burden-sharing at Copenhagen. Calling India’s low per capita emissions an “accident of history’’, he added that India’s biggest failure was our inability to control population growth. These remarks go against India’s stated positions on both climate policy and population policy. It is well-known that the Minister has modified the Prime Minister’s stated position on climate policy that India’s per capita emissions would not exceed that of the developed countries by replacing the words “would not exceed’’ by the words “will stay below’’ making it open for rich countries to negotiate India well below rich countries per capita emission levels. When queried in Parliament as to why the modifications have been introduced, he has dismissed such queries claiming that the two phrases ``mean the same thing".

In an interview to the Times of India today, the Minister has stated that India would be willing to accept monitoring, reporting and verification of mitigation actions in India even if they are not supported financially and technologically by the developed countries. He has dismissed the earlier position as a negotiating tactic and not an operational strategy. He has specified that even unsupported actions would have IMF/WTO style reporting.

He has also declared in the same interview that the question of Intellectual Property Rights is not a major issue in the part of the climate negotiations that relates to technology transfer. He has further downplayed the entire issue of technology transfer itself, stating that the issue real issue is technology development and not technology transfer. This is unacceptable, considering that the official language of the UNFCCC and the negotiating documents at climate negotiations use the specific term technology transfer (together with technology development, application and diffusion).

On both these issues the Minister is going against the officially stated negotiating positions of the Government of India. This is clear from the documents regarding India’s position that are available on the Ministry’s website itself.

Ahead of the crucial negotiations at Copenhagen, here is a Minister who publicly and repeatedly keeps modifying accepted policy positions. The Minister has also made derisive remarks about the G77 leader, Sudan. He has also stated soon after joining with China, Brazil and South Africa that he is not sure about China and Brazil. He has argued that India should distance itself from G77 states. Before the Indian delegation leaves for Copenhagen, the UPA government should categorically clarify what India's negotiating position will be.

DYFI LAKSHADWEEP COMMITTEE FORMED

An organising committe has been formed in the union territory of Lakshadweep on 5th December. The convention held at Kalpani island was inaugurated by DYFI kerala state committee secretary Com T V Rajesh.
The convention asked the authorities to form a Public service commission for service recruitment to avoid backdoor entries to the government department in Lakshadweep. The convention also decided to raise the issue of inadequate health facilities and transportation facilities and conduct struggles for these issues.The convention also elected Com Muhammed Muslim Khan (Kalpani Island) as the convener of the organising committe. T P Rahim (Kavarthi Island), P Nazar (Androth Island) and com Jaleel (Kalpani Island) were elected Joint conveners. The convention was addressed by Com. A N Shamseer (SFI All india Joint Secretary), and CPIM leader Lukmanul Hakim

Deshabhimani making big strides forward

Deshabhimani daily, the mouthpiece of the toiling masses is making big strides forward. Two new editions are going to be opened in the coming months. Bangaluru edition of the newspaper will be inaugurated on Dec 28 by Com. Pinarayi Vijayan (CPIM Kerala State Secretary). CPIM Karnataka State secretary Com VJK Nair will preside the meetin. This will be the eighth edition. In January 2010 the tenth edition of the daily will be inaugurated in Mappuram District. Deshabhimani which started functioning under Com. EMS Namboothiripad from 1946 has now editions from Trivandrum, Kottayam, Eranakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Baharin. Another thing that is adding more joy is the fact that a recent survey has made it clear that Deshabhimani daily is having the biggest growth in readership.

Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2009
The list of the top 10 publications that have recorded the highest growth in their average issue readership (AIR) sees Deshabhimani (Daily) right on top. Though the base numbers of the publication is modest, the growth number seen is a significant 365,000, which takes the AIR number of the publication to 2,027,000 in this round from the earlier 1,662,000.

Lokmat follows with an AIR increase of 315,000, taking its current AIR number to 7,104,000. Malayala Manorama has grown by 300,000 and is at 9,183,000. Times of India has grown by 276,000 and is now at 7,142,000. The sixth largest growth rate is of Mathrubhumi, which has moved from 6,413,000 to 6,678,000.