CPI(M) Plunges Into Relief Work

IN the face of enormous destruction and huge loss of lives due to the giant tidal waves provoked by the earthquake, the CPI(M) is mobilising its resources to undertake urgent relief work for the affected people.

The Polit Bureau has issued an appeal to the Party units concerned to organise relief work in the affected areas in Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The Polit Bureau has also called for fund collection to finance the relief and rehabilitation work.

Prakash Karat, member of the Polit Bureau visited Nagapattinam on December 29 along with state secretary N Varadarajan and other district leaders to ascertain how relief work can be organised by the Party in this worst affected town.

The West Bengal state committee has already sent Rs 5 lakh to the Tamil Nadu state committee for relief work. It has also given Rs 2 lakhs for relief work in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

From West Bengal, Lok Sabha MPs Nikhilananda Sar and Dr Ramchandra Dom have reached Chennai with a team of five doctors to visit some of the affected areas in Chennai, Kalpakkam and other plaecs. The team of doctors will provide medical relief.

In Kerala, the Party and other mass organisations are rendering relief and succour to the affected people in Kollam and Allapuzha districts. The Thiruvananthapuram district committee is organising food, clothing and other material for sending to the Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member S Ramchandran Pillai visited Kollam and oversaw Party relief work in the area. Two MPs, A Vijayaraghavan and Varkala Radhakrishnan visited Kanyakumari on December 29 along with relief supplies. They were accompanied by the Nagercoil MP, Bellarmine.

Gautam Deb, member of the West Bengal state secretariat and minister of housing reached Port Blair on December 28 to help organise relief work.

The West Bengal government in response to a request from the central government has arranged to send clothing, medicines and other material worth Rs 57 lakh to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.