People's
Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 50
December 22,2002
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVI No. 50 December 22,2002 |
B
Prasant
THE
Bengal
unit
of
the
CPI(M)
has
asked
its
ministers
and
members
of
the
Vidhan
Sabha
to
set
an
example
in
austerity.
CPI(M)
leaders
and
workers
at
every
level
of
functioning,
too,
have
been
urged
upon
to
emote
an
austere
life
style.
The
decisions
were
taken
at
a
meeting
of
the
state
secretariat
with
the
CPI(M)
MLA’s
that
was
held
at
the
Muzaffar
Ahmad
Bhavan
on
November
5.
Presided
over
by
Polit
Bureau
member
of
the
CPI(M),
Biman
Basu,
the
meeting
was
addressed,
among
others,
by
other
Polit
Bureau
members
Anil
Biswas,
Jyoti
Basu,
and
Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee.
The
meeting
was
held
as
part
of
the
process
of
review
of
the
work
of
those
people’s
representatives
who
have
been
elected
under
the
Party
symbol.
The
process
of
such
review
work
has
been
set
in
motion
in
the
wake
of
the
20th
state
conference
of
the
CPI
(M).
The
meeting
took
due
cognisance
of
the
dysfunctional
state
of
the
nation’s
economy
as
a
direct
result
of
the
adoption
of
the
policies
dictated
by
the
World
bank,
the
IMF,
and
the
WTO,
and
pointed
to
the
pressures
that
were
being
continuously
brought
to
bear
by
the
BJP-led
union
government
on
the
limited
financial
powers
of
the
states.
The
state
Left
Front
government,
the
speakers
at
the
meeting
pointed
out,
was
constantly
engaged
in
the
difficult
task
of
continuing
with
its
pro-people
developmental
tasks
while
battling
the
financial
odds
set
up
against
it
by
the
union
government.
While
the
MLA’s,
the
ministers,
and
other
people’s
representatives
of
the
CPI
(M)
spend
far
less,
and
enjoy
very
little
by
way
of
perquisites,
compared
to
those
representing
other
parties,
it
has
been
decided
nonetheless
to
set
an
example
by
going
in
for
further
cost-cutting
measures.
The
meeting
also
discussed
ways
and
means
of
enhancing
the
income
of
the
state
LF
government.
The
meeting
stressed
upon
the
“need
to
accelerate
the
work
of
such
schemes
as
have
lesser
financial
involvement
in
their
implication
and
are
free
from
administrative
encumbrances.”
In
this
connection,
the
importance
of
the
implementation
and
supervision
of
developmental
schemes
related
to
education
and
health,
in
particular,
was
highlighted
at
the
meeting.
The
meeting
iterated
that
leaders
and
workers
of
the
Party
“must
always
lead
a
lifestyle
that
is
becoming
of
a
Communist,
and
they
must
engage
themselves
in
the
task
of
expanding
the
mass
base
of
the
Party
amidst
the
people
by
rigorously
following
a
policy
based
on
transparency,
honesty,
and
accountability
while
avoiding
all
kinds
of
delays
and
procrastinations.”
All
CPI
(M)
members
of
the
cabinet
of
the
state
LF
government
have
submitted
the
performance
reports
of
their
respective
departments
on
October
31
as
per
schedule
and
the
reports
will
be
discussed
at
the
next
meeting
of
the
Party
state
committee.
