JAMMU & KASHMIR: YOUTH STAGE MILITANT RALLY TO PRESS DEMANDS

ON February 3, the Jammu & Kashmir Democratic Youth Federation (JKDYF) staged a strong protest demonstration at Kulgam, demanding guarantee of livelihood to the educated unemployed youth in the state. Hundreds of energetic JKDYF activists, with placards, festoons and flags in their hands, raised full-throated slogans to press their demands for employment, decent living conditions and democratic rights.

Addressing the rally, JKDYF state president Mohammad Iqbal Wani greeted the youth for coming on to the roads to assert their rights, and asked them to open a new front for a better future, security and dignity. He recounted the trials and tribulations through which the youth of the state had to go during recent years and asked the powers-that-be not to take the needs and requirements of this segment of society lightly. He lamented that the state suffered from lack of investment, total absence of an industrial base and decay of its indigenous industries.

Wani also flayed the government for its inefficiency in tackling the issues of unemployment, corruption, peace and security to the youth. He asked it to issue clear instructions to the law enforcing agencies to respect the human dignity and refrain from violation of human rights in the state. He also demanded that harassment of the youth in the state must stop forthwith.

Advocate Arshid Hussain Baba, Farooq Ahmad Brazloo and Mohd Afzal Parray were among others who addressed the rally. They criticised the government for rampant corruption and exploitation of youth in the state. They demanded the creation of an industrial base in the state for generation of jobs, and also demanded regularisation of the services of all daily wagers, casual and contractual workers.

The federation lashed at the government for erratic power supply in the state and non-availability of items of daily need in the far-off areas. It demanded that the government must to sensitise its the field functionaries to provide respite to the people during the ongoing winter.

Later a memorandum listing the demands of youth, was handed over to the deputy commissioner of Kulgam.

The memorandum said the Jammu Kashmir Democratic Youth Federation (JKDYF) feels honoured in representing the aspirations of the thousands of educated unemployed youth in the state and believes in peaceful democratic struggle to achieve its goals in regard to employment, free education, peace, security and development.

The memorandum said the youth of the state have borne the main brunt of widespread violence in the state for the last 22 years. Many of them have lost their lives, many are languishing in the jails and lakhs feel frustrated as a result of the pervading unemployment. The promises made by the successive governments in the state have been broken and, despite all the tall talk, there has been no improvement in the life of youth of the state. The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Youth Federation has been championing the cause of the youth in the state and is waging a struggle for an improvement in their life.

A huge army of educated youth has been rendered jobless, thanks to the policies pursued by the successive governments, which have resulted in dismay and frustration of the youth across the State. In our state the unemployment problem has increased manifold due to corrupt state of affairs and political hegemony. To tackle this problem, a comprehensive employment policy needs to be formulated in the state to make best use of the talent and potential that our youth posses.

In continuation of its resolve to strive for the democratic, legal and constitutional rights to the youth of the state, the JKDYF reiterated the following demands through its memorandum.

1) Restoration of peace through dialogue, reconciliation and settlement of issues.

2) Right to work as a legally enforceable fundamental right in the constitution.

3) Promotion of employment oriented education and vocational training to enhance the youth employability.

4) Immediate redressal of the issues of public importance like rising prices, erratic power supply, non-availability of essential commodities and strengthening of public distribution system.

5) Special funds for intermediate, college and universities for training, seminar, consultation and awareness programmes for the students and youth.

6) Regularisation of all daily wagers, casual and contractual workers.

7) Minimisation of delays in and simplification of procedures for sanction of loans to the youth under the self-employment schemes.

8) Making the state administration corruption free and immediate weeding-out of the corrupt elements.

9) Creation of an industrial base in the state with the aim of job-oriented development and economic progress of the state.

10) Putting an end to all sorts of harassment of youth within and outside state.

11) Release of the innocent youth languishing in jails without trial.

12) A high level, credible enquiry into all cases of killings and disappearances in the state during the last 22 years.

13) Formulation of a state youth policy, formation of state youth council and creation of an action plan to be implemented and evaluated by youth.

14) Allocation of adequate funds to the department of youth services and sports for youth development.

15) Regulation and modernisation of the existing system relating to health of the young people, improvement in the health facilities across the state in the matter of nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and safe drinking water. Special emphasis on treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and rehabilitation of drugs addicts.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org/

JHARKHAND: CONVENTION TAKES UP CNT ACT, DISPLACEMENT ISSUES

Shashikant

ON February 5, five Left parties, viz. the CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc, MSS and RSP, jointly organised a one day state level convention on the Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act (CNT Act) and on the issue of displacement, at HDC Hall, Purulia Road, in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand. CPI (M) state secretary Jnan Shankar Majumdar, Bhuvaneshwer Prasad Mehta (former MP) of CPI, Radhakant Jha of RSP and Sushanto Mukharjee of MSS and Forward Bloc leaders addressed the convention. Several intellectuals, cultural activists, lawyers Like Professor B P Kesri, film-maker Meghnath, Vaswi Kido (member of State Women’s Commission), C D Singh (advocate, Ranchi High Court) also addressed the convention.

CPI (M) state secretary Jnan Shankar Majumdar presented the approach paper on the CNT Act while the CPI state secretary Bhuvaneshwer Mehta presented the approach paper on the issue of displacement. Kisan Sabha leader and former MLA, Rajendra Singh Munda, presided over the convention. About 400 cadres of the five Left parties and many other people from all over the state participated in this convention.

It is known that the area of present day Jharkhand saw, for about 150 years, protracted and repeated revolts and uprisings of the adivasi (tribal) people and other inhabitants. This includes their participation in the first war of independence (1857) that had had a big impact upon them. One of the main directions of the movement was for the protection of the tribal people’s land and land rights. As a consequence, the British government was forced to make several regulations with limited land protection rights for the adivasis and other inhabitants of the region. These regulations were later codified in the Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act 1908 and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT Act) 1949. One the directions of these acts is the government’s responsibility to check the exploitation the adivasis, dalits and other weaker sections and to protect their lands.

Despite these provisions of law and even the High Court’s judgement in favour of the tribal and other inhabitants of the area, all the Congress led governments of the undivided Bihar and Jharkhand refused to discharge their responsibility in this regard and now the BJP led Arjun Munda government of Jharkhand is following the same trail. On the contrary, they have been repeated attempts to dilute the provisions of the CNT Act. In 2003, three years after the formation of Jharkhand as a separate state through the bifurcation of Bihar in 2000, the then BJP led Babulal Marandi government made an attempt to amend the CNT and SPT Acts; even the Vidhan Sabha (state assembly) constituted a committee for this purpose. Now, once again, attempts are being made to dilute the CNT and SPT Acts in order to make the lands of the weaker sections free for sale in the open market. This would also make the government free from any responsibility or involvement to protect the weaker sections as provided in the land tenancy laws and as directed by the constitution. The neo-liberal economic policy framework and the process of globalisation are having a deep impact in Jharkhand.

In this background, the CPI (M) has been raising this issue as well as the issues of large scale and illegal land acquisition, land disputes, and violence against the adivasis and dalit masses. Now the five Left parties working in Jharkhand have taken the initiative to defend the land and constitutional land rights of the adivasi, dalit and other weaker sections in the state and have given a call to the people of Jharkhand to launch a big and continuous mass struggle in all over the state on these issues.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org/

MAHARASHTRA: UPA REGIME RESPONSIBLE FOR PRICE RISE & CORRUPTION

Vijay Gabhane, Anna Sawant &

Bhausaheb Zirpe

THE CPI (M) Polit Bureau member and leader of the Party’s Parliamentary group, Sitaram Yechury toured the three districts of Aurangabad, Jalna and Nanded in the Marathwada region on January 29-30, 2011. In the course of this hectic tour, he addressed several packed programmes held by various organisations in all the three districts as well as press conferences held by the Party. Yechury effectively projected the views of the Party and the Left on current developments as well as on policy issues during this tour. In all these programmes, Yechury flayed the Congress-led UPA-2 regime for the massive price rise and the shocking corruption scams and also attacked the Hindutva forces for their links to terrorism.

NANDED

Both the programmes in Nanded were held on January 30, the martyrdom anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. On this occasion, the three Left parties – CPI (M), CPI and PWP – had organised a district level convention against communalism and terrorism. Over one thousand people from various tehsils attended the convention. They comprised peasants, agricultural labourers, unorganised workers and the middle class. Minorities like the Muslims and Sikhs and women came in good numbers.

Recalling the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi at the hands of Nathuram Godse, who had undeniable links with the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha, Sitaram Yechury said that when the entire country and its people were rising against the yoke of British imperialism, it was the Muslim League led by Jinnah on the one hand, and the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha led by Golwalkar and Savarkar on the other, that were fomenting communal riots that eventually led to the partition of the country. All the above communal forces thus played into the hands of imperialism and aided and abetted its notorious policy of divide and rule, which kept the nation in slavery for nearly two centuries. The culmination of this communal cancer was the terrorist act of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Today, over six decades later, said Yechury, the communal forces were still trying to divide the country on the basis of religion. This is seen in the innumerable communal riots that have taken place across the country, and especially in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the horrific Mumbai riots in 1993 and the heinous Gujarat massacre in 2002. Terrorism by Muslim fundamentalist elements, with links across the border, began with the serial Mumbai bomb blasts in 1993 and culminated in the gruesome terror attack on Mumbai in 2008. But now even the Hindutva elements have got into the terrorist fray, as seen first in the unsuccessful attempt a few years ago in Nanded itself. Later, the bomb blasts in Malegaon, Ajmer, Hyderabad and on the Samjhauta Express have also been clearly traced to these same Hindutva elements.

Yechury then pinpointed the terrorist ways of the Maoists in various states, and particularly in West Bengal, where they are in open league with the Trinamul Congress, and are violently conspiring against the Left Front government. Over 350 comrades of the CPI(M) alone have been killed by the Trinamul-Maoist combine since the last Lok Sabha elections. The Maoists were also responsible for the sabotage of the Jyaneshwari Express, which led to the death of over 200 people. And yet the UPA central government turns a blind eye to the dangerous antics of its own railway minister!

Finally, Yechury called upon the convention to wage an uncompromising struggle against communalism and terrorism in all its forms, in order to defend the unity and integrity of the country.

The convention was presided over by senior PWP leader and ex-MLA Gurunath Kurude. It was also addressed by CPI(M) state secretary Dr Ashok Dhawale, CPI state secretariat member Prof Tanaji Thombre and PWP youth wing leader Purushottam Dhondge. The CPI (M) state committee member Vijay Gabhane made the introductory remarks, CPI (M) Nanded district secretary Arjun Adey conducted the proceedings and CPI district joint secretary Pradeep Nagapurkar gave the vote of thanks.

The other programme in Nanded was a lecture by Sitaram Yechury on “Globalisation, Democracy and Socialism” organised by the Nanded Education Society at the Science College. The lecture was to commemorate the birth centenary year of the renowned freedom fighter and one of the leaders of the Marathwada Mukti Sangram against Nizam rule, Govindbhai Shroff. Former Janata Dal MP and president of the Society Dr Vyankatesh Kabde presided over the function. It was attended by hundreds of students and teachers from various city colleges.

JALNA

Jalna city has a long tradition of holding a renowned annual lecture series called the ‘Chetana Vyakhyan Mala” at the J E S College. Leading intellectuals from various fields delivered lectures in this series. On January 29, Sitaram Yechury spoke here on the “Challenges before Parliamentary Democracy in India”. President of the J E S Society Purushottam Bagadia was in the chair.

Beginning with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s famous speech in the constituent assembly on November 26, 1949, where he warned that although we have given political equality to all citizens through the constitution but not economic and social equality, Yechury said that even after 61 years of the Republic, economic and social equality is farther than ever. He narrated instances of the gross inequality in the country today to prove his point. On the one hand, we have 53 dollar billionaires in India, whereas 77 per cent of our people cannot even spend 20 rupees a day.

Asserting that parliamentary democracy in India is based on the four pillars of sovereignty, secularism, social justice and centre-state relations, Yechury said that all these four pillars have been eroded by the policies of Congress-led and BJP-led governments at the centre and in the states.

The neo-liberal economic policies of the current UPA regime have led to massive price rise and have aggravated the agrarian crisis. Thousands of crores of rupees of tax concessions to the corporates are termed as ‘incentives’, while the pittance doled out to the poor is looked down upon as ‘subsidies’. The shocking corruption scandals that have been recently unearthed are a blot on the nation and their massive scale is a fall-out of the neo-liberal policies. And yet the government has so far refused to accede to the opposition demand for a JPC to go into the telecom scam. Parliament could not function during the whole of its winter session due to this government intransigence.

Yechury concluded by saying that the ruling classes over six decades have created a ‘Shining India’ on the one hand and a ‘Suffering India’ on the other. He outlined the contribution of the Left in the country as a whole, and of the Left-led regimes in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. He ended by calling for an alternate radical path which would lead to economic and social equality in the country.

Earlier in the evening, Sitaram Yechury gave the concluding speech in a Jalna district Party class in which state secretary Dr Ashok Dhawale had during the day taken the subject “Building of the Party and the mass organisations in the context of the current political challenges”. State committee member and district secretary Anna Sawant had placed a document outlining the Party plan of tasks to be completed during the coming one year. The Party class was attended by nearly 100 members.

AURANGABAD

In Aurangabad on the morning of January 29, Sitaram Yechury inaugurated the student council of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University that had been won by the SFI. Vice Chancellor Dr Pandharipande presided over the function that was held in the Mahatma Phule Hall in the university campus. Among those on the dais were student council president Sandeep Devkar, general secretary Shaikh Zakeria and director of student welfare captain Suresh Gaikwad.

In his speech, Yechury recalled his days as a student in the SFI and in the JNU and explained how and why he was attracted to the Marxist ideology. He spoke of the educational situation in India and the new challenges students will have to face as a result of the neo-liberal policies being pursued by the rulers in the sphere of education. Today, he said, everyone asks the youth to join politics, but we have to decide what kind of politics to join. He then dealt with the grim situation in the country and called upon the students to intervene effectively in order to radically change this state of affairs.

Hanuman Lavhale introduced the guest, Sunil Rathod and Vishakha Shirwadkar conducted the proceedings and Ganesh Rathod proposed the vote of thanks. All these students were SFI activists in the University. The inaugural function was jam-packed, with over 1200 students and faculty members present. Among those who attended were CPI (M) district secretary and state committee member Uddhav Bhavalkar and other leaders of the CITU, DYFI and SFI.

Earlier in the morning, Yechury addressed yet another packed gathering of staff and students in the renowned Saraswati Bhuvan College at Aurangabad. The function was presided over by former Janata Dal MP and well-known socialist Bapusaheb Kaldate. Here also Yechury dealt with the manifold challenges before the country today and clearly projected the Left alternative.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org/

NATIONAL WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONS SUBMIT BUDGET MEMO TO FINANCE MINISTER

Sudha Sundararaman

ON February 15, 2011, the national women’s organisations (AIDMAM, AIDWA, AIWC, CWDS, GOS, JWP, MWF, NFIW, YWCA), submitted their budget memorandum to the finance minister, demanding that the concerns of the poorest, most backward sections be addressed, and underlining the need for a gender sensitive allocation of resources.

The memorandum stressed the crucial importance of addressing price rise, in a context of double digit inflation, with food prices skyrocketing to unheard of levels. It pointed out that policies such as deregulation of petrol prices, and inability to curb hoarding and speculative trade had contributed to inflation, leading to a particularly adverse situation for women and families from marginalised strata of society. They requested that a special thrust be given to all sectors that directly or indirectly affect inflation, from the supply side through production, from the demand side through creation of capacity to purchase by generating remunerative employment and through an effective public distribution system.

The organisations demanded that the government should:

 Enact a comprehensive food security act, allocate two per cent of GDP for this purpose.

 Ensure universal public distribution system as a core component of the act.

 Provide 100 days per household under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act; revise schedule of rates to fix realistic gender-sensitive work norms; pay the statutory minimum wages set by the states with full price indexing.

 Enact an Urban Employment Guarantee Act, on the lines of NREGA.

 Allocate 6 per cent of GDP for health

 Allocate 6 per cent of GDP for education

 Make adequate budgetary allocation to cover special schemes for women workers

 Funds for agriculture to be prioritised, increase allocation for food production; special attention be paid to women farmers

 Enhance resource allocation for tribal, dalit, and minority women, ensure that funds under these heads are not diverted

 Increase budgetary support for schemes to assist women-headed households, senior citizens and differently abled women

 Ensure proper gender budgeting in all ministries and departments.

The memorandum elaborated its demands, drawing attention to the appalling situation of women who had not benefited in the least from the much publicised high growth rates, as follows:

FOOD SECURITY

The International Food Policy Research Institute's estimate of the hunger index for the 17 major states in 2008 (more than 95 per cent of the population of India) showed that 80 per cent of the rural population, 64 per cent of the urban population, and 76 per cent of the total population suffer from inadequate calorie and food consumption. The government must formulate a food security bill that takes into account this reality, and scrap targeting; universalise the PDS and delink entitlements from the Planning Commission's debatable poverty estimates; include commodities like pulses, sugar, cooking oil and kerosene at subsidised rates; and provide at least 35 kilograms of grain at Rs 2 per kg. The government is once again holding 60 million tonnes, well over the buffer norms, which must be distributed to curb the inflationary trend.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture witnessed a negative growth rate last year, which has serious implications for per capita availability of food grains. The allocation for agriculture in general, and irrigation and food production in particular, must be increased substantially, to increase employment opportunities both in agriculture as well as rural non-farm employment. Diverse cropping patterns and crop cycles should replace commercial cropping. Crops of the dry lands regions (like millets, oilseeds and pulses) which are crucial for food security must receive greater support through a special package.

The budget must ensure that women cultivators are able to access institutional credit to which they are still denied access due to the absence of land titles and other collateral in their name. Support for sustainable agriculture programmes under the National Rural Livelihood Scheme ,including the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran programme must be delinked from microfinance operations and the formation of SHGs. Women farmers who do not wish to be part of SHGs must also be able to benefit from these programmes. The interest subsidy should be increased so that the repayment rate is not more than four per cent. Debt relief packages should be made gender sensitive. Relief packages for suicide ravaged families should take into consideration the problems faced by widows while re-starting cultivation of the lands.

HEALTH

According to the National Health Profile (2009), 69.5 per cent of children in the age group 6-59 months, 55.53 per cent of married women and 57.85 per cent of pregnant women in the 15- 49 age group, are anaemic. The high levels of maternal and infant mortality rates in India continue to be serious health challenges. Hence public expenditure on health should be increased to at least 6 per cent of GDP.

Rural health care infrastructure must be strengthened, and the budget must make higher allocations for primary health care centres. Provision of safe drinking water and universal sanitation, especially in rural areas and urban slums, should be budgeted for. Child-care facilities should be provided for all working women, including from the unorganised sector, and maternity benefit allowance should be raised, in addition to Janani Suraksha Yojana, to Rs 6000/- per delivery. This should not be linked to the two child norm or to BPL category.

The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna, where pregnant women are to be given a conditional cash incentive of Rs 4,000 for pre-natal and post-natal care, should cover all women, without linkage to the BPL category.

The budget must provide increased outlays for training of nurses.

CHILD CARE

14 lakh anganwadi centres should be set up as per the Supreme Court orders to universalise the ICDS, and the provision for all child specific schemes should increase to at least Rs 12,000 crores. The ICDS should be made an effective tool of health care delivery to children under six and their mothers. The quality of food served in ICDS centres and under the mid day meal scheme should be improved. Packaged foods should not replace hot, freshly cooked meals.

The child care provision under the NREGA is not being implemented in most states, and provision of child care even as per existing laws is being denied by the private sector. As more and more workers are today located in the informal sector of the economy, and many are migrants, it is imperative that this aspect be given significant attention.

EDUCATION

Shamefully, on the index of adult literacy, India is in the 148^th position globally.Government should allocate 6 per cent of GDP for education to make it universal, equitable and qualitative for all children from three to fourteen years of age. Adequate budgetary provisions must be made to implement the Right to Education Act. It is imperative that the National Literacy Mission be de-bureaucratised and funded adequately.

To achieve universal access and quality education, expenditure on SSA must be increased and education centres should be upgraded to proper schools.

Special funds should be earmarked to ensure separate and functional toilets with water provisions in all schools and for building compound walls in schools to upgrade security.

Also, primary schools need to be set up within one km radius of all habitations, especially in rural areas, and proper secondary schools within three km of all habitations. There should be more scholarship schemes for girls in secondary schools, particularly for educationally and economically deprived categories and more allocation for vocational, job oriented training.

WOMEN WORKERS

The provisions of the Unorganised Worker’s Social Security Act 2000, should not be confined to BPL workers. The budget must provide resources to ensure social security for all categories of unorganised sector workers, and for special schemes for home-based workers, domestic workers, etc. Women working in government schemes like ICDS, NRHM, midday meals in schools, etc should be recognised as workers and paid minimum wages, with budgetary allocation for this purpose.

Migrant workers should be recognised as a special category and their needs, such as access to PDS, health, education and child care facilities etc., even when they are away from their place of permanent residence, should be budgeted for.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org/

PRAKASH KARAT CONGRATULATES JHALANATH KHANAL, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF NEPAL (UML)

The following is the text of the message sent by Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI (M) to Jhalanath Khanal, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) on February 4, 2011

Comrade Jhalanath Khanal

Chairman,

Communist Party of Nepal (UML)

Khatmandu

Dear Comrade,

I extend warm felicitations on your being elected the prime minister of Nepal.

Your assuming this high office has broken the political deadlock that existed. I am sure, under your leadership the democratic process and the formulation of a new constitution will make headway.

Wishing you all success in your endeavours,

(Prakash Karat)

General Secretary

Source: www.pd.cpim.org/

SUCCESSFUL ANTI PRICE-RISE CAMPAIGN HELD BY LEFTIST PARTIES IN INDIA

AT the all India call of the nine parties against spiraling price rise and all pervading corruption, the state committees held a successful campaign from Feburary 3–9, 2011. The following are the state reports we received as we go to press.

TAMILNADU

Twenty one political parties including CPI (M), CPI, AIADMK, MDMK and Forward Bloc held massive joint protest demonstrations on February 8 across the state of Tamilnadu against the unprecedented price rise. Leaders of these parties held the pro-corporate policies of the UPA II government responsible for this price rise and demanded their rollback. The speculative futures trading and forward trading were blamed for the significant rise in prices of essential commodities. The refusal of the central government to reduce the duties on petroleum products was also cited as proof of its anti- aam admi stance.

Protest demonstrations were held in all district centres and taluk headquarters including major cities like Madurai, Coimbatore, Thirunelveli, Salem, Erode, Tirupur and Thoothukudi in the state. The CPI (M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan and CPI state secretary D Pandian and senior leaders of AIADMK, MDMK addressed the protestors in Chennai.

JHARKHAND

Responding to the all India call of the nine parties against spiraling price rise and all pervading corruption, five Left parties in Jharkhand - CPI(M), CPI, Forward Bloc, RSP & Marxist Coordination Committee - staged demonstration in front of the Governors’ House at Ranchi. Before the demonstration, a massive rally from Jaipal Singh Stadium marched towards the Governors’ House and then a public meeting was addressed by leaders of the Left parties.

Addressing the public meeting, leaders held the central governments’ policies responsible for both the issues. Therefore, they requested the governor through a memorandum to convey to the prime minister of India the peoples’ protest against price rise and corruption and the six demands on behalf of the five left parties of Jharkhand:

1. As recommended by parliamentary standing committee, stop futures trading of food grains and other essential commodities; and stop speculative pricing of agricultural produce of other essential commodities;

2. Bring all under food security bill; implement PDS for all; give 35 kg food grains per month at Rs 2 per Kg to each nuclear family; immediately release stocked food grains in FCI godowns; supply other essential commodities through PDS;

3. By adjusting excise duty and customs duty, reduce prices of petrol and diesel;

4. Take action against hoarders and give exemplary punishment to hoarders and profiteers;

5. Check the all pervading corruption;

6. Constitute JPC on 2G Spectrum scam.

Amit Ray, Sufal Mahto, Nadeem Khan from the CPI(M), Prafull Linda of Kisan Sabha, Rangowati Devi Of AIDWA, P K Ganguly and Ajay Singh of the CPI, Radhakant Jha of RSP, Sushanto from Marxist Coordination Committee and other leaders lead the demonstration and addressed the public meeting.

(Shashikant)

ORISSA

On the culminating day of the week-long nationwide agitation against price rise, a state level dharna was organised jointly by the CPI(M), CPI and Forward Block before the Raj Bhawan in Bhubaneswar. The memorandum addressed to the governor covered all the demands raised by the nine Left and secular parties at the national level. In addition to that, the three Left parties demanded the proper distribution of PDS commodities at officially announced rate without any minimisation of quota and prosecution of all corrupt officials, storage agents and dealers who denied the poor consumers their right to be benefited from the public distribution system.

After hundreds of people reached in contingents, the venue of the sit-in demonstration, the protest meeting started with the presidium comprising Sivaji Patnaik CPI(M), Asis Kanungo, CPI and Sarat Mansingh, FB on chair. The demonstrators were addressed by Janardan Pati, Santosh Das, Jagannath Mishra, CPI(M), Dibakar Nayak, Ramkrishna Panda, CPI and Sarat Mansingh, FB. The delegation that submitted the memorandum comprised Dusmanta Das and Suresh Panigrahi, CPI(M), Asis Kanungo and Sura Jena, CPI and Sarat Mansing, FB.

The state level programme was preceded by local level demonstrations, dharnas and rastaroko agitations by the CPI(M) in different districts and localities.

(Debendra Patra)

CHHATTISGARH

THE Communist Party of India (Marxist), Chhattisgarh State Committee has successfully conducted anti price-rise campaign through out the state. The CPI (M) alongwith other Left parties and also non-Congress, non-BJP parties has given a call for massive anti price-rise campaign from Feburary 3–9, 2011 all over India. In Chhattisgarh, rallies, dharnas, demonstrations, street corner meetings, village meetings and leaflets distribution were done. 30,000 leaflets were printed and distributed. Dharnas, demonstrations and mass meetings were organised in Raipur, Kanker, Rajnandgaon, Dhamtari, Kawardha, Bilaspur, Raigarh, Korba, Koriya and Sarguja districts. Memorandums addressing the prime minister of India were given to the collectors of all districts demanding immediate control of price-rise, universal PDS, reversal of petroleum product prices, scrapping forward trading etc. 30 village meetings were organised in Dhamtari , Kanker , Rajnandgaon , Raigarh and Sarguja district. Sarguja district organised rallies and street corner meetings in each block from Feburary 3-9, 2011. In Kanker district, two separate programmes were held on Feburary 9, 2011 where a rally of 5000 people was taken out and mass meetings were organised. In Pakhanjore, a dharna was organised before the S D M office and street corner meetings were held. In Bilaspur, joint dharna was organised along with the CPI on Feburary 7, 2011. In all these programmes Party and mass organisations’ activists participated in large numbers. M K Nandy, Party state secretary, secretariat members D R Mahapatra and Ashok Sinha, state committee members Bal Singh, Lallan Soni, Rishi Gupta, A K Lal, Basudev Das, S R Nandy, N K Kashyap, S N Banarjee, Gajendra Jha and other state and district leaders actively participated and addressed the public meetings. All the speakers said that the wrong policies of the government of India are mainly responsible for the unbearable price-rise. Because of the decontrolling of prices of petroleum products, the oil campanies have increased the prices of petrol for seven times in a year. Even during the last one month, they have increased the price of petrol hugely. Forward trading continues unabated. PDS has been systematically dismantled. Lakhs of tons of rice and wheat are getting rotten in the FCI godowns, even then the government is not distributing it to the poor through the PDS. On the contrary, they have given a free hand to the black marketers and hoarders to loot the people. In Chhattisgarh, the state government has increased the water tax by three to four times and also proposed for electricity tariff like, which has further made the life of the people more miserable.

(M K Nandy)

HARYANA

On the call of the four Left and five other secular parties against price rise, dharnas and protest demonstrations were organised by the CPI (M) district units in several places.

Activists of the CPI also joined in certain places. Over 2000 strong procession was taken out in Fatehabad demanding effective steps to bring down prices of essential commodities, strict punishment to those indulging in series of corruption scams and proper implementation of schemes like MGNREGA, PDS and providing house sites to the landless. Prior to the procession, people gathered at the grain market where they were addressed by Party state secretary Inderjit Singh and others including Harpal Singh and Ram Kumar.

An impressive dharna was organised at Hisar. While addressing the dharna, CPI(M) state secretary Inderjit Singh gave a call to all sections to extend solidarity support for the February 23 Delhi march of trade unions. Mindless acquisition of fertile farm lands by Haryana government also came in for sharp criticism.

Similar protests were held in Rohtak, Panipat, Jind, Sirsa etc. Party activists from Faridabad, Gurgaon and Sonipat joined the protest in New Delhi.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org/