People's Democracy

ANDHRA PRADESH NEWSLETTER

CPI(M) Holds Extended

State Committee Meetings

EXTENDED state committee meetings of Andhra Pradesh unit of the CPI(M), which were attended by district committee members and state centre cadre, were held in Hyderabad and Vijayawada on May 8, 9 and May 11, 12 respectively. The purpose of holding these meetings was to report about the deliberations of the 20th Party Congress and to chalk out a plan for implementation of the tasks formulated in the recent state conference.

CPI(M) central committee members P Madhu and P Ramaiah reported in both meetings respectively about the deliberations of the Party Congress. Central committee members M A Gafoor and S Veeraiah presented reports on the tasks formulated in the state conference with particular emphasis on implementing the tasks of ‘concentration and expansion’.

A total of 719 delegates attended these meetings. Discussion was held both district wise and mass organisation wise endorsing and enriching the reports. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and state secretary B V Raghavulu replied to the discussion in both the meetings and stressed on the importance of orienting Party work towards ‘grassroots effort and grassroots organisation’. The immediate task for the Party now is to launch independent and united struggles on people’s issues. He called on the Party units and cadre to prepare for these struggles.

Resolutions were adopted by the meetings related to people’s issues, ban on sand mining, liquor mafia ruling roost etc. The resolution on people’s issues criticised the state government for getting bogged down in internal squabbles and totally neglecting administration. The severe drought in the state last year resulted in crop failures in around 85 lakh acres in 878 mandals. Although the government promised to provide Rs 1800 crore as input subsidy to the affected farmers, that promise remains on paper with lame excuses of election code preventing disbursal of amount. There is severe drinking water crisis in many parts of the state but the government has hardly bothered to take any steps to mitigate the situation.

The livelihood of an estimated 40 lakh construction workers has been severely affected due to state high court order banning mining of sand in the state. Building activity has come to a grinding halt. With the months of March, April and May being the peak time for the construction sector, most of these daily-wage earners are forced to migrate to cities like Bangalore and Mumbai. The resolution criticised the government for not taking any steps to address this problem.

In a separate resolution, the CPI(M) demanded that the reforms that are being implemented in the towns and the cities in various forms be halted immediately. It decided to organise 15-day statewide agitation against the burdens being heaped on common man through these reforms.

Urban reforms were fast-tracked by the state government in the name of the World Bank schemes, JNNURM scheme of the central government and the grants of the 13th Finance Commission. All the civic services are being privatised and handed over to contractors and capitalists. The government is imposing heavy taxes and user charges burdens on the people. Over Rs 1000 crore burden has been heaped on people in the form of hike in property tax. Many more burdens in the form of garbage tax, water charges and user charges are being levied. The maintenance of street lights has been privatised in 40 towns in the first phase. As a result of all these measures, civic services have got much more constrained. Corruption has become rampant. The state government is not allocating the required funds to urban local bodies. As a result, the municipalities and corporations in the state are today mired in serious financial crisis, stated the resolution. The mortgaging of their properties has also begun. Though the local body elections are due from the last 18 months, fresh elections are not being held due to political reasons. The government is directly running these local bodies through special officers. Taking advantage of this situation, the anti-people reforms are being fast-tracked. Even as the development in the towns has come to a grinding halt, many problems of the people are unattended to. Agitations are raging against these burdens. In this context, the CPI(M) demanded that these anti-people reforms by the government be halted immediately and the additional burdens imposed on the people be withdrawn.

Reiterating its criticism against the Congress central leadership for dragging its feet on the issue of dividing the state or keeping it united, the CPI(M) demanded that the centre must come forward with a clear cut stand on this issue. It charged the central government of creating the problem and now trying to blame others. Stating that this issue has thrown the state politics into a vortex of uncertainty and derailed development works. The main responsibility for the present state of affairs is with the Congress because it has not taken a clear cut stand on this issue.

The CPI(M) has decided to contest independently in a few constituencies in the latest round of bye-elections to 18 assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha constituency to expose the opportunistic, corrupt politics of other parties and to bring people’s issues on the agenda. Although effort was made to have an alliance with CPI, it did not fructify with the decision of the CPI to support TRS in Parakal constituency in Telangana and TDP in the rest of the seats in coastal and Rayalaseema regions. The CPI(M) has appealed to the people to vote in favour of people’s struggles and teach a lesson to those who are throwing inducements of money and liquor. The Party will campaign under the slogan ‘Support integrity, Defeat corruption and opportunism’, stated the resolution.

BRINDA KARAT AT

AIDWA SEMINAR

Addressing a seminar organised by AIDWA in Hyderabad on May 13, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and patron of AIDWA, Brinda Karat, said that women in the country continue to be discriminated despite the fact that our parliament is 60 years old.

AIDWA state president T Jyothi presided over the seminar titled ‘UPA Govt’s Attitude to Legal Reforms’. Karat reminded the audience that in the first parliament of 1952, there were 23 women members out of a total of the 483 members. Even after 60 years, in the present Lok Sabha the number is 58 out of a total of 544 members i.e. only 12 per cent. She reminded that the government of the day was questioned about the scarce presence of women in the first parliament itself. But nothing much has changed in the past 60 years as far as political empowerment of women is concerned. To rectify this situation, she demanded that the 33 per cent reservation bill for women in the legislatures should be ratified by the Lok Sabha immediately.

Karat also criticised the central government for dragging its feet on the draft bill providing rights to women in getting a share in the property. She quoted instances of countries like the USA, Canada and other European nations where a woman gets equal rights in the property after her marriage. AIDWA has prepared a draft bill in this regard and submitted to the government for ratification along with other women’s organisations and NGOs. But the government has still not approved it, she lamented. Referring to the government’s proposal to bring about changes to the Divorce Act, she felt these proposed changes do not give effective protection to the women in divorce, property rights and the care for the children. In this matter, the Left parties made specific proposals to the government. Among them included making consent of the woman compulsory for grant of divorce; time must be granted for decision making in this matter; property rights must be given to the woman etc. She charged that the UPA-II government, in the name of the changes to the existing laws, is actually diluting the rights of women. She mentioned that Section 498A of IPC is also being diluted by allowing right of getting bail to the accused. She asserted that such changes would not be accepted at any cost and called on women to prepare for struggles in defence of women rights. CPI(M) central committee member S Punyavathi, AIDWA state secretary K Swaroopa Rani and others participated in this seminar.

FMRAI

CELEBRATIONS

Earlier, Brinda Karat inaugurated the rally of the Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives Associations of India (FMRAI) marking the golden jubilee celebrations of the organisation. The rally was held from  Indira Park to Sundarayya Vignan Kendram (SVK) at Bhaghlingampally in Hyderabad.

Speaking on the occasion, Karat called for the unity of employees and workers in order to achieve social change in the country. Recalling the doomsayers who proclaimed end of the road for socialism with the collapse of Soviet Union, she said today the working class all around the world had become much more united through struggles. The struggle for socialism around the world is getting much stronger and the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement in USA is an indication of this, she emphasised. Capitalism for sure would collapse and socialism would win, she asserted.

With pursuit of neo-liberal policies by the UPA-II government, the direct and indirect attacks on the working class have multiplied. This attack on the working class is making its unity inevitable, and the trade union movement alone could keep the workers united, she observed.

Referring to the research laboratories in Hyderabad that were outsourcing destinations for the multinational pharmaceutical companies, Karat said  these laboratories were shamelessly putting our people to great risks in the name of clinical trials of medicines. “Why would not these trials take place on the people of Germany or else USA whose companies are manufacturers of these medicines”, she questioned. Karat called for protection of the public sector pharma units in the country through struggles. 

R Viswanathan, president of the FMRAI, who spoke on the occasion spoke about the struggles and victories achieved since the inception of FMRAI and the future challenges lying ahead for the organisation. The meeting was presided over by, Mukul Kulakarni, president of the AP state unit of the FMRAI. CPI(M) central committee members P Madhu and S Veeraiah also participated in the meeting.

(INN)