People's Democracy

THE CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and former Chief Minister of Kerala, E K Nayanar laid the foundation stone for the proposed Niruben Patel village in Maliya taluka of Rajkot district on November 19. This village has been adopted by the CPI(M) for rebuilding after the January 26 earthquake that struck several parts of Gujarat, resulting in the death of thousands of people.

Hundreds of villagers gathered for this function and received the CPI(M) leaders with enthusiastic shouts of slogans and Gujarati folk songs. CPI(M) Central Committee members Sukumol Sen, Joginder Sharma and Gujarat state committee secretary Subodh Mehta were present on this occasion.

Speaking on this occasion, Nayanar termed this endeavour by the Party as a humble attempt to alleviate the sufferings of the people who have lost everything as a result of the earthquake. He wanted the state and central governments to step up the rehabilitation effort. He told the gathering that the peasantry and working class of the nation is undergoing the most difficult period of their lives as a result of the economic policies pursued by the central government. These policies have an impact equivalent to an earthquake on the people's lives, said Nayanar.

The proposed village will come up on five acres of land that the Party has purchased for this project. Apart from 150 houses, each on 100 yards and a built up area of 255 sq ft, a primary school, a community hall, panchayat ghar, childrens park and an underground water storage tank will also be constructed.

The Party has retained M/s. A V Pandhe of Sholapur for constructing the village. This contractor has built houses for the earthquake affected people in Latur, Maharashtra.

In the wake of the devastating earthquake of January 26, the CPI(M) had given a call for nation-wide collection of funds to help in the relief and rehabilitation efforts. In response to the call of the Party, Rs 1 crore 33 lakh were collected, of which Rs 91 lakhs was contributed by mass collections from Kerala.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and later on, several central leaders visited the earthquake affected areas. In consultation and with the help of the Gujarat State Committee of the Party, the Lawanpur village in Maliya Taluka of Rajkot district was chosen for the rehabilitation work to be undertaken by the CPI(M). The affected in this village are poor salt workers and belong to various backward and scheduled caste communities and minority sections.

The Niruben Patel village, named after the late Niruben Patel, member of the CPI(M) state secretariat, former Mayor of Bhavnagar and a leading CPI(M) functionary who dedicated her entire life in the cause of the working class and the toiling people, is located in Piparia Char Rasta on the crossing of two state highways, 6-7 kms away from the village Lawanpur. Construction of the village is to start in full swing immediately.