People's Democracy

THE earthquake causing unprecedented havoc and damage in Gujarat elicited a sensitive response from Kerala. The Kerala government has started an information centre at its Secretariat to provide details and answers to queries (it was learnt that 20 lakh Keralites are in Gujarat, engaged in various fields of work and in search of work) and has donated Rs one crore as the first instalment towards relief for the victims. Some parts of Kerala also felt underground disturbances for two days.

The CPI(M) state secretariat has issued a public appeal to mobilise contributions to the "Deshabhimani Gujarat Relief Fund." The relief fund is to be collected in all the six districts from where editions of Deshabhimani daily are being published. The CPI(M) state secretariat and Deshabhimani management have made an initial contribution of Rs one lakh each to this relief fund. The state secretariat also urged the party units to collect clothes, medicines and other items to be sent to the victims in Gujarat. A number of trade unions, service associations, DYFI and other organisations have also issued appeals for mobilising relief collections. The DYFI state committee made an initial contribution of Rs one lakh to the relief fund. Members of the state legislature have contributed one month salaries to the relief fund.

INAUGURATING the national conference of the Bank Officers Association at Kozhikode, Kerala chief minister E K Nayanar called upon the banking sector employees to bring about better unity and to intensify the campaign against the privatisation policy of the central government. Nayanar also recorded his protest over the policy of the nationalised banks to stand aloof from the world-acclaimed People’s Plan campaign in the state.

THE Left forces have won a two-thirds majority in the election to the general council of Kerala Agriculture University. Elections were held to 30 constituencies and Left-led organisations won 20 seats. The remaining 66 members to the general council are ex-officio and nominated by the government. The constituency of university employees, held by the Congress(I) for the last eight years, has now been won by the pro-Left organisations.

THE release of EMS stamp by the postal department on January 27 is quite late but still very good, said V S Achuthanandan, convenor of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). He said EMS will ever be remembered as a leader who spent whole of his life continuously fighting for the emancipation of the poor and the working masses. During the last seven decades, EMS was among the leaders of the people’s movements and remained a source of inspiration in the fight against communalism. The inordinate delay by the central government in issuing an EMS memorial stamp, even after popular demand, could never be commended.

Briefing the reporters after a cabinet meeting, E K Nayanar, the chief minister, said that the state government is not facing any financial crisis though there are serious financial difficulties. He said the Kerala government has not failed to pay the salaries of its employees on due dates, while the employees in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, etc, have been denied regular and existing financial benefits. He was sure that the Kerala government will continue to pay the salary and other dues to its employees in the coming months as well. Yet the state government is facing much financial difficulty due to the unhelpful attitude of the central government. Nayanar further said the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies has found that Kerala is the best state in respect of law and order, and those who raise a hue and cry on the law and order situation do so simply because of political and propaganda reasons.

INAUGURATING the silver jubilee celebrations of the Keltron Employees Association, CITU state president K N Ravindranath urged the employees to make a comprehensive study of the anti-worker, anti-people policies of the central government and of the industrial climate on the global level. The industrial world is in a real crisis all over the world, including the most modern IT industry. The details of such global features must be studied and regularly discussed by the workers to lay the basis for overcoming this crisis. He said it is clear that the workers and ordinary people cannot live in peace till a social change is effected to remove the unequal distribution of all kinds of products of both agricultural and industrial sectors. He urged the trade unions to concentrate on this field of study and campaign so as to forge a strong united movement of workers all over the country.

THE Kerala government has issued rules of procedure and guidelines for the declaration on citizen rights to be adopted by municipalities in the state. The rules make it compulsory for all municipalities to adopt such a declaration within six month after the elections and to publish it for the people of their localities. (INN)