Press Release of Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is conducting a Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha which will traverse the length and breadth of the country. Four main jathas will start from Kanyakumari, Kolkata, Mumbai and Amritsar to Delhi. At the conclusion of these jathas, there will be a massive rally at Delhi on March 19 at Ramlila Maidan.

The purpose of the jatha is to highlight some of the main problems and issues facing the people and to set out alternative policies advocated by the CPI(M). The policies of the UPA government at the Centre have resulted in continuous price rise, agrarian distress, growing unemployment and massive corruption. There is no difference between the Congress and the BJP as far as their basic policies are concerned.

The jathas will call for people’s unity to struggle for their basic rights, against communalism and to demand a reversal of the disastrous economic policies being followed by both the Congress and the BJP. The jatha will focus on the following areas:

1) Right to Land and House-sites: Implement land reform policies by distributing surplus land to the landless. Guarantee house-sites to each landless household. 

2) Curb Price Rise and Right to Food: Universal right to 35 kgs of foodgrains at a maximum price of rupees two a kg. Scrap APL/BPL based fraudulent poverty calculations. Stop forward trading in foodgrains and other essential commodities.

3) Right to Education and Health: Stop privatisation of educational and health services. Increase allocations for education and health. Guarantee implementation of the Right to Education Act. Strengthen public services in health and ensure strict regulation of the private sector.

4) Right to Employment: Step up public investment to ensure creation of jobs; lift the ban on recruitment and ensure time-bound recruitment for all vacancies, particularly for SC/ST/OBC backlog; increase days of work under NREGA with price index linked minimum wages and expand it to include guarantee of work days in urban India. 

5) Ensure Social Justice and Rights of Women : Curb violence against women and provide one-third reservation for women in legislatures and Parliament; end social practices of untouchability and discrimination against dalits; protect the land and forest rights of adivasis; provision of equal opportunities in education and jobs for the Muslim community.

6) End Corruption: Enact Lokpal legislation with independent powers of investigation; bring back black money stashed in foreign banks; recover losses from the corporates responsible; send the corrupt to jail.

Programme of the Jathas:
February 24 – launch of the Kanyakumari to Delhi jatha. This jatha will be led by S. Ramachandran Pillai and the team of leaders will consist of M. A. Baby, K. Varadharajan, V. Srinivasa Rao and Sudha Sundararaman.

March 1 – Jatha will start from Kolkata to Delhi. This jatha will be led by Prakash Karat and the team of leaders will consist of Biman Basu, Jogendra Sharma, Subhashini Ali and J. S. Majumdar.

March 4 – Jatha will start from Jalianwalabagh in Amritsar to Delhi. This jatha will be led by Brinda Karat and the team of leaders will consist of Hannan Mollah, Inderjeet Singh and Rajendra Sharma.

March 8 – Jatha will start from Mumbai to Delhi. This jatha will be led by Sitaram Yechury and the team of leaders will consist of Nilotpal Basu, Mohd. Salim and Mariam Dhawale.
The Kanyakumari jatha will be flagged off on February 24 by the General Secretary Prakash Karat.

Linking Jathas
From Guwahati (Assam), there will be a jatha to Kolkata starting on February 23. This jatha will be flagged off by Manik Sarkar, member of the Polit Bureau.
From Paralakhemundi (Odisha), there will be a jatha to Kolkata starting on February 24.
From Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), there will be a jatha to Chandigarh starting on March 3.From Bhavnagar (Gujarat), there will be a jatha to Indore starting on March 6.

During this period, there will be various sub jathas conducted within the states that will link up to the main jathas. Altogether, more than 10,000 kilometers will be covered by all the jathas. Ten lakh copies of a booklet explaining the aim of the jatha have been published in various languages for the campaign.

P J Kurien Should Go

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

 

 The surfacing of fresh evidence in the Suryanelli gangrape case concerning the involvement of P.J.Kurien comes in the background of the Supreme Court orders annulling the acquittal of 35 men by the Kerala High Court in 2005 and ordering a reexamination of the case.  It should be noted that Kurien had got the benefit of this flawed judgement of the High Court when his petition not to be included as one of the accused was accepted by the High Court and Supreme Court in 2007. A reinvestigation is essential and Kurien should step down from his post of Dy. Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, till it is over.

 

The Kerala Government is adopting double standards by not ordering a reinvestigation into the case against Kurien. Only recently it had ordered reinvestigation into two cases of murder dating back decades, which had been decided through the judicial process including, in one of the cases, upto the Supreme Court.

 

The CPI(M) appeals to the Congress leadership to view this matter in the proper perspective. This is not an issue being raised for party-political purposes. The whole country is seriously concerned and agitated about the alarming rise in sexual crimes against women. Parliament is to discuss laws concerning sexual violence against women. At such a juncture, when a rape victim has leveled a serious charge against P J Kurien and fresh evidence has come to light, will it be proper for him to continue in the post of Dy. Chairman of the Rajya Sabha? It becomes incumbent for him to resign. If not, he should be removed from the post of Deputy Chairman.

Stop Increase in Prices of Petrol & Diesel

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

 

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly protests the hike in the price of petrol by Rs. 1.50 per litre  and the monthly hike in the price of diesel by 45 paise.

 

Since the deregulation of petrol pricing, there is a constant and steep increase in the price of petrol. In the case of diesel, the price rise will be continuous on a monthly basis.  The government is only adding to its tax revenues by such escalating prices of petroleum products and increasing the profits of the oil companies at the expense of the common people.

 

The CPI(M) demands the cancellation of the price hike and the restoration of the administered price mechanism. To protest against this added burden on the people, the Party calls upon all sections of the people to support and join the general strike called by the Central Trade Unions on February 20 and 21, 2013.

CPIM Parivartan Rally in Rajastan concludes with a huge rally

Parivartan Yatra, organised by the Rajasthan state unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) concluded on February 15 at Jaipur (Jaipur’s Udyog Maidan) with a huge rally of more than 1 lakh participants . The month long jatha made its journey through almost all of the districts and gave the message of an emerging thrid front in the leadership of CPIM in the coming Assembly elections. CPIM Central Committee member and MLA Com. Amra Ram was the leader of the jatha. The finale of the jatha was inaugurated by party General Secretary Com. Prakash Karat. 

Com Prakash Karat while inaugurating the rally demanded that the Rs 3,600 crore contract to purchase VVIP choppers be cancelled and the CBI probe into the graft allegations over the deal be put under the Supreme Court’s monitoring. Karat equally blamed the Congress and the BJP for corruption at high-levels, referring to the Centre’s 2010 contract about procuring 12 helicopters for Indian VVIPs from AgustaWestland that hit the headlines early this week over alleged kickbacks in the deal. 

“The CBI is controlled by the PMO through the minister of personnel. So, the CBI investigation over corruption in the helicopter purchase case should be done under SC monitoring, as happened in the 2G spectrum case,” Karat said, addressing thousands of party men here. Urging people to strengthen the third political front comprising the Left parties in upcoming assembly elections in the state and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the CPM leader targeted the Congress-led UPA government and the previous BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for their economic policies and the resultant inflation and decreasing subsidies for farmers. 

Karat stressed for a strong Lokpal Act, right to food security and the forest rights Act and demanded that these be passed in the forthcoming budget session. “On February 26, we will hand over a memorandum signed by 5 crore people of the country to the PM demanding 35 kg of grains at Rs 2 per kg,” Karat said. Karat also attacked the Congress government in the state and questioned its secular credentials. “There were more than 100 cases of communal violence in Rajasthan in the past four years. Minorities are attacked here,” he reasoned. Speaking to reporters,

Karat later said unlike the 2008 assembly elections the party would be fielding its candidates on more than 35 constituencies in Rajasthan this year. 

 The CPIM leader informed  about the party’s plan to take out a nationwide jatha (Sangarsh Sandhesh Jatha) of its rank and file that would commence on February 24 from the country’s south, north, east and west and culminate in a public rally in Delhi on March 19. “Before this, there will be an a a m-h a r t a l (common strike) on February 21 and February 22 to protest against price rise and privatization,” Karat said. 

CPIM legislator and the leader of the jatha Com Amra Ram too hit out against the Ashok Gehlot government and the previous Vasundhara Raje government for alleged antifarmer policies.

Preperation to make CPIM Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha Historic in Kerala

As per the decision of the recently concluded CPIM Kerala State Committee preparations are going on across the state to make the first ever All India Jatha a historic one. The southern Jatha led by Com. S Ramachandran Pillai will travel through Kerala on 25, 26 and 27. The jatha will be passing through the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alleppey, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Trissur, Malappuram and Palakkad districts. In the rest of the districts where the jatha is not traveling, District level jathas are organized. In the districts through which the jatha is passing, Area level jathas are organised to make people aware of the points for which the All India Jatha is convened.

A minimum of 1 lakh people will be organised in each centre where the All India jatha will be received.  Hectic campaign works are carried out all over the state. The schedule of the jatha in the state is as follows

February 25th                 11 AM                     Kerala Border- Kaliyikkavila

                                      3 PM                       Mamom Grounds, Attingal, Trivandrum

                                      6 PM                       Kollam

February 26th                 11 AM                     Allepuzha

                                      3 PM                       Kottayam

                                      6 PM                       Kochi

February 27th                 10 AM                     Thrissur

                                     12 Noon                   Edappal

                                      4 PM                       Palakkad

In the districts of Kasargod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Idukki and Pathanamthitta where the jatha is not touching, District level jathas are organised.

In Kasargod Districts two jathas led by Com. M V Balakrishnan and Com M Rajagopal both district secreterait members will lead jathas from Manjeswaram to Uduma and Balamthod to Kanjangad respectively from 23rd onwards. 

Kannur district jatha led by DC secretary Com P Jayarajan from cherupuzha will be inaugurated by Com. M A Baby on 24th. Another jatha led by State committe member Com. M V Jayarajan will be inaugurated at Kelakam by Com. E P Jayarajan on 24th. Both the jathas will culminate at Thalassery on 26th.

Jatha led by Kozhikode District Secretary Com. T P Ramakrishnan from Vadakara will be flagged of on 23rd. Another jatha led by Com. M Pradeepkumar M L A will start its journey from kadalundy from 23rd. Both the jathas will culminate at a mass meeting on 26th at Muthalakulam Ground.

Wayanad District jatha led by D C Secretariat member Com. C Bhaskaran will start on 24th from Pozhuthana and will conclude at 26th at Sultan Battery.

Idukki district Jatha led by DC secretary Com. K K Jayachandran will start from marayoor on 23 and conlcude at Nedumkandam on 26th. The second jatha led by Com. P N Vijayan will start from Vandiperiyar and end at Thodupuzha on the 26th

Pathanamthita jatha led by D C Secretary Com K Ananthagopan will travel from Parumala from 22 and end at Kidangoor on 24th. The jatha led by State committee member R Unnikrishna Pilla will start from Earath and end at Mannadi. 

CPIM getting ready to make Sangharh Sandesh Jatha a grand success

Since its formation, this is the first time communist party is taking out a nationwide jatha touring all the states. The time and theme of the jatha adds importance.  The last Central Committee meeting held in January 28 finalized the programme of the all India jathas. These jathas which will traverse the length and breadth of the country will propagate the Party’s stand on various major issues affecting the people and the alternative policies of the Left. The issues of food security and price rise; land and house sites; employment; education and health; and the fight against corruption will be focused in these jathas.

The four jathas will be from Kanyakumari to Delhi led by Ramachandran Pillai; Kolkata to Delhi led by Prakash Karat; Mumbai to Delhi led by Sitaram Yechury; and Amritsar to Delhi led by Brinda Karat. Jathas to link up with the main jathas will be conducted from Srinagar, Guwahati, Parlakhemundi (Orissa), Ahmedabad and other centres.

The jathas which will begin from February 25 and the first week of March will culminate in a mass rally in Delhi on March 19, 2013. Cadres and people from Delhi, Bihar, Madhyapradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab will participate in the Delhi mass rally with a participation of More than 1 lakh. 


Preperations are going on in hectic pace to make the jatha a grand success. State committees are also planning state wide jathas to create awareness among the people on the issues raised by the all india Jatha. Various sub jathas are also planned in each states. 

Kanyakumari - Delhi Jatha

The Southern Jatha from Kanyakumari to New Delhi will be led by PB Member Com. S Ramachandran Pillai. PB Member M A Baby, Central Secretariat member V Sreenivasa Rao, CC member Sudha Sundarraman will also be part of the jatha. The jatha will cover 7 states. Starting from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu the jatha will cover Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarpradesh. Jatha will be inaugurated on the 24^th of February 2013 by CPIM General Secretary Com. Prakash Karat. The jatha will join with the Western Jatha led by Com. Sitaram Yechury at Bhopal on March 12. 

From Bhopal the joint jatha will move to Delhi through Gawlior and Agra. 

The Jatha which will be inaugurated on 24^th will stay at Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu. On the 25^th The jatha will be received at Thakkala, and Marthandam in TamilNadu. The Jatha will enter Kerala at 11am through Kaliyikkavila. From there the Jatha will go through Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam District on that day. The Jatha will be received by the Thiruvananthapuram Disctrict committee and a mass rally of 1 lakh people is planned at Mamom Ground in Attingal (Trivandrum District). On the 26^th Jatha will cover Allappey, Kottayam and Ernakulam Districts. On the 27^th the Jatha will pass through Thrissur, Edappal (Malappuram District) and Palakkad. From Palakkad the jatha will go to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. 

Details of the Jatha Route

Feb 28 – Erode, Salem

March 1 – Dharmapuri (Tamil Nadu), Hossur, Bangaloru (Karnataka)

March 2. – Dhoddabellapur, Gudibanda, Bageppalli, Penagonda (AP), Pavagada (Karnataka)

March 3 – Pallakkara, Bellari (Karnatkal), Gundakkal (AP)

March 4 – Adani, Kurnool

March 5 – Vanaparthi, Nagarakurnool, Kalavakoorthi, Kandur, Hyderabad

March 6 – Sangareddy, Nizamabad

March 7 – Adilabad

March 8 – Kinvat, yavathmal

March 9 – Wardha (Maharashtra)

March 10 – Nagpur, Sausar, Chindhvada (Madhyapradesh)

March 11 – Narasingapur

March 12 – Mandi Dweep, Bhopal (Madhya pradesh)

Amritasar - Delhi Jatha

The Northern Jatha starting From Amirthasar to Delhi under the leadership of CPIM P B member Com. Brinda Karat will start on March 1. The jatha will start from the historic place of Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs memorial after paying tributes to the great martyrs who fought for the freedom of the country. After that a mass meeting organised at Company Bagh ground in Amritasar. People from Amritasar, Gurudasppur, Thantaran and Pathakot districts will participate in the rally. Jalandhar will be the next reception centre for the jatha. Comrades from Hoshiarpur, Bhagathsingh Nagar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Moga district will greet the jatha. The jatha will leave from Jalandhar on the 5th March and will be received at Gura. The people from Bundala will join the jatha there. 

The next stop for the jatha will be at the industrial centre Ludhiana. Workers and farmers from Ludhiana, Fardiacot, Bhatinda and parts of Moga district will greet the jatha at a mass rally organised in Jalandhar. Then the jatha will leave for Chandigarh, where the sub jathas from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir will join this main jatha. The combined jatha will then move to Patiala on March 6th, where a huge reception is being organised by workers and comrades of  Patiala, Sangrur and Mansa. After that the jatha will enter Harayana and there by to New Delhi.

Kolkota - Delhi Jatha

This Eastern Jatha will be led by CPIM General Secretary Com. Prakash Karat. The jatha will start its journey from Kolkota and travel through Bihar and Uttarpradesh. Other sub jathas are also planned, which will join this main jatha.

Mumbai - Delhi Jatha 

This jatha will be led by CPIM P B Member and M P Com. Sitaram yechury. The jatha will start from Mumbai. This jatha will go travel through Barvani, Khargavon, Pithampur, Indore, Devas. This jatha will join with the southern Jatha on 12th March at Bhopal.  

 

On the Helicopter Contract Bribery Case

The arrest of the CEO of the Finmeccanica company in Italy has exposed the massive corruption involved in the contract of 12 Augusta-Westland helicopters. It is reported that Rs. 362 crore was the kickback involved in the deal.

Though the investigations in Italy into this bribery case was known for the past few months, the UPA government chose not to do anything on the plea of lack of “specific information”. Even now, when the Defence Ministry has ordered a CBI enquiry, the plea has been repeated that no specific information has been received so far from the governments concerned – UK and Italy. The entire report of the investigation by the Italian authorities has been reported in the media, yet the UPA government seeks to shelter behind this specious reason.

It is clear that the UPA government has failed to check high level corruption in defence contracts in the past eight years of its tenure. The helicopter deal is the latest instance.

The contract for the helicopters should be cancelled. The CBI investigation should be supervised by the Supreme Court, only then will people have confidence that we will get to the bottom of this affair.

Don't Sign Areva Reactors Agreement for Jaitapur

  The National Committee in Solidarity with Jaitapur Struggle had written to the PM on August, 2012 that the costly imported Areva reactors would result in very expensive power to the consumers. It had also brought out that apart from high costs, there are major concerns with the Jaitapur project.

 

The Committee had pointed out that the 1650 MW EPR is an untested design, and has caused serious concerns among the nuclear safety agencies of different countries. The project has not been subjected to an independent, rigorous, scientific techno-economic scrutiny and safety audit in the public domain. Regarding the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of the project, it is important to note that NEERI, the agency that prepared the EIA, is admittedly not competent on matters concerning nuclear hazards.

The Jaitapur project is being pushed against the will of the people of the region. Any nuclear plant has to work with the people of the area if it has to operate safely. It must also work out safety drills and evacuation procedures in the case of an accident. All this requires taking the local people into confidence, and not suppressing them with full force of the state as is being done currently.

Post Fukushima, France’s Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority (ASN) has completed a thorough re-assessment of Areva’s EPR reactor, one of which France is building in Flamanville. As a result, several substantial modifications to its hardware and subsystems, as well as design and safety re-analyses, have been mandated by ASN. This has resulted in a further increase in costs of Flamanville by about 30%. The Finnish safety regulatory body STUK has also asked for a set of post-Fukushima modifications to be incorporated in their EPR.

The French electricity company, Electricité de France (EDF), has announced recently that after this latest escalation, the cost of the single, 1650 MW reactor in Flamanville now stands at 8.3 billion Euros, far beyond its initial projected cost of 3 billion euros.

At the current euro-rupee exchange rate (Rs 72), this works out to a cost of Rs 36 crores per MW. Based on Flamanville costs, the Phase I capital cost of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) would be of the order of Rs 120,000 crores for 2 reactors, with a capacity of 3,300 MW. With this amount of investment, India can install more than 20,000 MW of coal fired plants.

The NPCIL and the government have refused to disclose the costs and resultant tariff for the JNPP. If the above costs are any indication, the electricity tariff from Jaitapur would not be less than Rs 12-14 per unit. This is not viable as it would impose very high rates of tariff for Maharashtra and other consumers. The 2,000 MW Dabhol plant is currently producing only a sixth of its capacity, as its high cost power prohibits any significant grid off-take. If the same course is pursued in Jaitapur as was done with Enron’s Dabhol plant, Jaitapur is also likely to become a stranded asset.

After EDF’s announcement about the increase in costs, a number of companies have pulled out of EPR projects. Siemens had withdrawn from Areva even earlier. Now the Italian energy company Enel has terminated the strategic partnership it signed with EDF 2007, announced the withdrawal of their 12.5 % stake in EDF’s Flamanville project, and their withdrawal from five other EPR projects in France. Centrica of Britain has also announced its withdrawal from a joint venture with EDF to build EPR nuclear plants in Britain.

The trends in the share price of the EDF are also indicative of the crisis of its EPR program. Five years back, in March 2008, the EDF share price was at around 70 euros. 

Today it stands at 13.9 euros. Similarly, Areva’s share prices have also fallen.

A matter of great concern is the earthquake hazard study for the Jaitapur site carried out by NPCIL and its consultants. Prof. Vinod Gaur, Distinguished Professor of Geophysics and Seismology at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics at Bangalore, a senior U.S. Seismologist Professor Roger Bilham, in an article on Jaitapur seismicity in the Current Science journal of the Indian Academy of Sciences last year, have raised serious doubts about the prudence of setting up six 1650 MW nuclear reactors at this site. In Fukushima also, the authorities had ignored or suppressed few of the early independent expert views on the likelihood of a higher strength earthquake. Prof.Gaur has stated that NPCIL has intimidated and silenced other seismologists, who have views opposing the official assessments, for example denying Prof. Bilham entry into India ever since he co-authored the article on Jaitapur seismicity.

We understand that NPCIL is planning to sign an agreement with AREVA during the visit of the French President. Given the range of issues with the Jaitapur project, it would not be in the interests of our country to sign any agreement with AREVA on the EPR reactor. The Jaitapur plant and designs must be subjected to a public scrutiny, both on techno-economic grounds and on questions of safety, before any decision is taken.

The Committee opposes setting up nuclear plants with costly imported reactors and also believes that without a thorough safety review and a detailed techno-economic analysis of India’s nuclear energy program, no expansion of the nuclear power programme should be undertaken in the country.

Kolkota protest against pervasive anarchy in WB

The city of Kolkata today witnessed an unprecedented gathering when more than hundred thousand people marked protest against pervasive anarchy, incessant attacks on common people and left workers, massive deceleration in all developmental aspects of the state of West Bengal in a meeting called by the Kolkata District Committee of CPI(M) at Shahid Minar Maidan. The gathering was so huge and committed that Shahid Minar Maidan remained insufficient to accommodate all.
The gathering sharply marked protest against:
· Complete lawlessness and antisocial practice in the state; · Deceleration in agricultural growth and increasing farmer suicide; · Zero industrial investment and intimidating existing industrial bodies; · Growing tension in North Bengal; · Huge drainage of public resources; · Constant intimidation from the Government against people’s rights;
All District and State Leaderships of CPI(M) were present in the meeting. The Kolkata District Secretary of CPI(M) Raghunath Kushari presided over the meeting.
Biman Basu
While slamming the UPA-II Government In his speech the Left Front Chairman and CPI(M) State Secretary Biman Basu reiterated the purpose of the meeting and invited the mass to mark the two-day strike on 20th and 21st of February a grand success. Stressing upon the anti-people decisions taken by the central UPA Government causing deregulation of oil prices, cascading price hike in all essential commodities, FDI in retail consumer sector etc all 11 Trade Union organizations called the two-day strike. Criticizing the State Government also on this issue Biman Basu said that this present TMC State Government though having propagating against the above decisions is doing the double standard by opposing the strike.
On a common and often mediated criticism against strike that it would cause harm to the daily wage workers, Basu said exemplifying Maruti agitation issue that the Delhi based factory first retrenched the daily wage labourers which became an instance that daily wage workers are the worst sufferers. So the strike would stand by these workers and not oppose them.
On state question, Biman Basu expressed serious concern about the decelerating agricultural growth of the state. In this Boro paddy cultivating season, he said, just 6.75 lakh Hectors of land has so far been cultivated out of total 15 lakh Hectors of land. So, he concerned, disaster will occur if within 10 to 15 days the whole land is not cultivated by the end of this season. He commented that ‘the urban will not sustain by depriving the farmers’. So a newer series of struggle is necessary to prevent continuous farmer suicide and lowered of growth of agriculture.
On the Panchayat question, Basu said that the new CM to BDO formula will not work and this would invite a further deadlock in the system. Elected Panchayats are not allowed to work properly that causes a serious harm in rural developmental works.
He however has given an alert to the party workers and leaders to maintain the dignity of language.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
The former Chief Minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also expressed concern about the future of the present whole Young Generation in the state if no industrial investment comes and the education system as a whole suffers in the tenure of this TMC Government.
The present socio-economic crisis also persists in the city along with the whole country. We have some handful people extraordinarily rich and known to the world also, whereas the rest of people are in the darkling poverty where market rules the order and the system for the affluent people. The Central Government is not ready to provide subsidy anymore on essential commodities including oil prices that causes serious harm to the poor and lower middle class people.
Talking on the state situation, Bhattacharjee reiterated that the state ministers including the Chief Minister is performing gimmick politics even in this crisis situation instead of handling it properly. Just to hit their photographs in the newspaper they are roaming in the market. Will such stunts lead to curb down the prices of food items? We however, a month ago, launched a mass signature campaign to mark the protest against the price hike and for the Food Security. The Kolkata District only has collected a list of 12 lakh signs, which is doubtlessly a commendable effort. We however would submit it as memorandum to the UPA Government soon as a true mark of the protest.
Talking on the industrial situation of the state Bhattacharjee expressed concern about the future of the young generations in the state. The industries were coming in the state during Left Front regime; which resulted in the generation of 80,000 jobs in five years. Now where would they go? Again outside Bengal? The education system also is suffering a lot. Education environment in colleges is now facing a serious crisis.
The transport situation in the state is just deplorable condition. Even after the fare revision busses are moving in adequate number. Workers and pensioners are not getting salaries regularly. The power situation also appears to be the same where the price hits a sharp rise. The State Government is responsible to this price rise. This should not sustain for long.
Having coupled with these crises in the state the growing concern is the anti-social practices of the local hooligans across localities. Some anti-social activities are really not new in the state but this has become the order of the society now. Where these miscreants are getting impetus from? Actually the State Government is not willing to curb down the tension and hooliganism. They all are of common opinion that ‘we have formed the Government’. State Ministers are all heading all Sharodotsav (Durga Puja) Committees expropriating millions of money from citizens.
The worst sufferers are now the women of our state. They witness that offenders and indulgers are all heading the Government. We must protest and resist them perpetrating the crime. The cultural environment of the state is now facing serious question.
Surjya Kanta Mishra
In his short speech Surjya Kanta Mishra said that the Chief Minister has to react on issues ranging from Trident Lamp scam to her painting selling issue wherefrom she has earned crores of money to, according to her, fund the campaigning for the coming panchayat election.
Criticizing the ‘Mati Utsav’ and other misdeeds of the Government, Mishra said that the industrial investment has gone down to a miserable situation where the deceleration has occurred by 98% compared to the Left Front regime.
Md. Salim
While slamming the Government and TMC autocracy, Md. Salim said that autocracy does not spare anyone; hits every agent of the system and society. The Trinamool Congress is basically ruining the aura of Bengal Politics by giving not only false assurances to identities like Gorkhas and others in jungle mahal and many others but commenting atrocious activities against women as a ‘fabricated case’.
People have witnessed the first 20 months of the Trinamool Congress led Government that what atrocity is. From Auto drivers to Hawkers, who once have taken TMC flag in hand, people have already experienced unprecedented expropriation of funds and physical assaults.
CPI(M) State Secretariat Member Rabin Deb said that the Government and the Chief Minister are celebrating ‘Mati Utsav’ after bloodsheding the soil.
The Leader of Opposition in Kolkata Municipal Corporation Rupa Bagchi while slamming the Government said that the last two and half years the KMC witnessed a series of corruption incidents ranging from Trident Lamp scam of Rs. 30 crores, which even the Chief Minister has given the clean chit, to all other developmental programmes. The Mayor is hiding himself by accusing DG-Lamp of KMC.
The former Minister and CPI(M) leader Manab Mukherjee criticized the Government by saying that the situation of today basically has proved the Left Front Government right. It is true from Singur to Shalboni where the fortune of West Bengal got the first blow.

Statutory Status for SC Sub-Plan

On the eve of budget session, a delegation of the CPI(M) led by Basudev Acharia, leader of CPI(M) group in the Lok Sabha met the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today in his office at North Block. The  delegation submitted a memorandum urging allocation of Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan funds as per the guidelines stipulated by government of India. To implement this, the delegation proposed a statutory status by enacting a central law on the lines of the recent law enacted by Andhra Pradesh State Assembly. The
Finance Minister told the delegation that he is aware of the Andhra Pradesh law and assured that he will look into the matter seriously.
 

The other members of the delegation were V. Srinivasa Rao, member of the Central Secretariat of CPI(M) and G. Mamatha. 

The Full Text of the Memorandum

Respected Sir,
 

We bring to your notice with grave concern the fact that the central government is not making the stipulated allocations for the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan. Even in the budget for the year 2012-13, it had allocated just 7 %, against the mandated 16.2 % for SC Sub Plan. This goes against the guidelines of the Government of India of making allocations at least in proportion to the population of dalits. And even the meager allocations that are made, are not spent. There are reports that the shortfall in the SCSP this year may be up to Rs 26,000 crores. There are attempts to devise shortcuts to make up for the shortfall by including 

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the expenditure that does not benefit SCs directly under the SCSP, like the expenditure purported to be shown under MGNREGA and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana programme. Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) is a crucial initiative in closing the development gap between the Scheduled Castes and the others. Therefore, the government must provide statutory backing to the SCSP by enacting a suitable legislation to ensure its effective implementation. A look at the over-all status of the Schedules Castes, even after 65 years of independence, gives us the picture why there is urgency in bringing in a legislation for the effective implementation of the SCSP.

 Differences in Development Indicators between SCs and other Social Groups
                                             Indicators SCs All groups
Literacy (%)                                                                         63.5 72
Malnutrition among Women (BMI<18 .5="" 33="" 41.2="" nbsp="" span="">
Underweight Children (%)                                                     47.9 39.1
Pucca Housing (%)                                                                38.3 66.1
No Toilet Facility (%)                                                            65 49.2
Electricity for Domestic use (%)                                             61.2 75
IMR ( per 1000 live birth)                                                      66.4 50
U5MR ( per 1000 live birth)
Under 5 mortality rate                                                         88.1 74.3
Child Immunisation (%)                                                        39.7 43.5
Incidence of Poverty (Rural)                                                 20.6 14.9
Incidence of Poverty (Urban)                                                25.3 14.5
 

Source: India – Human Development Report 2011

Towards Social Inclusion, Institute of Applied Manpower Research, Planning Commission SCs continue to be landless and assetless. In 2009-10, only about one third of SC households owned some assets. Only 11% of SC rural households owned private enterprises, when compared to 54.5% others. The SCs also lag behind in access to civic amenities. In 68% rural and 38% urban areas, the SC localities do not have proper drinking water facilities, compared with 49% and 20% for others. Access to higher education is also low; enrolment rate being 10 % compared with 25% for the others and the dropout rate is very high.
 

3.  Thus, in term of access to assets, land, private enterprises, employment, education, drinking water, sanitation and housing etc, SCs suffer deprivation and consequently deeper levels of poverty. Added to this, SCs at many places continue to suffer untouchability, discrimination and caste based atrocities. We therefore, request that in the forthcoming budget 2013-14, atleast 16.2% of the Plan outlays be allocated to the SCSP and measures must be taken to make it non-divertible and non-lapsable by ensuring a statutory status to it. In Andhra Pradesh, as a result of the sustained movement, the state government has enacted a legislation providing statutory status to the SCSP. This is a first of its kind in our country. All though, it has some loopholes, it is a welcome legislation. The central government should enact such a legislation, with provisions to do away with the existing
loopholes. The government has introduced a policy of affirmative action in procurement. But, there is an unwritten policy against sanctioning loans to dalit applicants. Credit disbursements to dalit entrepreneurs had dropped by 33.8% in the last financial year, according to data released by the RBI. Unless the private enterprises owned by dalits are made profitable by providing them loans and marketing facilities, the said policy will not deliver the intended benefits. There is government apathy in filling up the backlog vacancies for the SCs. The ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions headed
by the prime minister himself, has said that the government's success rate in filling the backlog posts for SC, ST and OBCs has been less than 30 per cent. Of a total backlog of 76,137 vacancies in various ministries, departments and public sector enterprises, the government could fill up just 26,472 in an exercise spread over three years as part of the special recruitment drive. The government must make earnest efforts to fill up all the backlog posts for the SCs. The government must speed up the process to ensure reservation in promotions for SC, STs. There is an alarming increase in the atrocities and attacks on SCs in the country. The conviction rate is abysmal. Dalits face many hurdles to even get the cases registered. In such a situation, there is an urgent need to amend the SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, in order to plug the loopholes and strengthen it further to ensure social justice. We therefore urge the government to implement the following measures: 

4 MEASURES TO BE TAKEN:

• Provide statutory status to SCSP by enacting a suitable Central legislation to enforce allotment to SCSP and the proper utilisation of the funds.
• A proportion of the total Plan outlays of Centre and States, at least equivalent to the proportion of SCs in the population at national and state level, should be set apart as Scheduled Caste Sub Plan before the Plan outlays are allocated to the Ministries/Departments
•  Place the funds earmarked for SCSP under a separate Minor Head ‘789’ below the functional major head/sub-major heads to ensure their non-divertibility to any other scheme. 
• SCSP funds should be deployed to implement schemes with a clear objective of bridging the gap in socio-economic development of SCs with particular focus on education, income generation and access to basic amenities in SC localities
• SCSP funds should be channelised only to such schemes where tangible benefits accrue to scheduled caste individuals or households or groups or localities. Schemes to secure greater access of irrigated land, promotion of self employment schemes, and enterprise development to Scheduled castes should be formulated .
• SCSP/TSP funds to be made non-lapsable and non-divertible.
• Residential schools for boys and for girls should be set up in each block in rural areas and similarly in urban areas. Pre-matric and post matric scholarships should be extended to support all students belonging to SCs. The granting of scholarships must be de-linked from the criterion of possessing Aadhar cards. The quantum of support should be enhanced to enable the students to access quality education.
• A Nodal Agency to coordinate and monitor all departments must be set up.
•  Proper appraisal and approval mechanisms, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to oversee the use of funds must be developed. A special officer at district level with powers on par with magistrate should be appointed to ensure effective monitoring of the SCSP.

5 Social auditing should be done every year. A grievance redressal cell for time-bound redressal of complaints within three months should be set up.  The original name, “Special Component Plan for Scheduled Castes” (SCP), which existed from 1978 till 2006 should be restored. We hope you will seriously consider the above mentioned steps and take the country a step further in achieving social justice. The forthcoming Budget should give priority for the upliftment of dalits by providing the requisite allocations for the SCSP and providing statutory status to the SCSP.