People's Democracy

Credentials Committee Report

• A total of 549 delegates participated in the conference. Of them 5 were observers. Among the total, 512 were men and 37 women.

• Among the delegates there were 5 who were aged above 80 years and 14, below 30. The oldest delegate was Party central committee member, T K Ramakrishnan, aged 86 years, and the youngest delegate was Nithin Kanicherry from Palakkad, aged 25 years. The maximum number, 186, were in the age group of 51-60 years followed by 179 in the 41-50 age group.

• As for social composition, 165 delegates came from working class origin, 43 agricultural workers, 95 poor peasants and 227 middle peasants. There were two delegates who came from landlord origin and three from bourgeois origin.

• Three delegates had no formal education, 40 primary, 193 secondary, 102 higher secondary and allied, 143 graduation and 68 post-graduation.

• Eight delegates had joined the Party before 1947, 71 during 1947-63, 237 during 1964-76, 208 during 1977-91, 22 during 1992-97 and three after 1997. The seniormost delegate, V S Achuthanandan, Party Polit Bureau member, had joined the Party in 1940.

• There were 11 central committee members, 57 state committee members, 360 district committee members, 88 area committee members, five branch members and six others.

• 73 delegates had joined the Party through trade union front, 42 through kisan front, 24 through agricultural workers front, 151 through youth front, 215 through student front, 27 through women’s front, 8 through cultural front.

• Among the delegates, 154 work in Party organisation, 151 in TU front, 83 in kisan, 71 in agricultural worker, one in middle class employees, 23 in student, 34 in youth, 33 in women, 9 in culture and 10 elsewhere.

• As for repression, there were 6 delegates who have been in jail for more than three years, 43 for a period between 6 months to 3 years, and 274 up to 6 months. 226 delegates had never been in jail. V S Achuthanandan had spent the longest term – 6 years – in jail.

• Two delegates had spent more than three years underground, while 33 had spent a period between 6 months to 3 years and 112 delegates spent less than 6 months. 402 delegates had no experience of underground life. P K Chandranandan spent the maximum of 12.5 years underground followed by V S Achuthanandan who was underground for 5 years.

• Among the delegates, 10 were members of parliament, 19 MLAs, 110 elected in co-operative sector, 106 elected in local bodies and 53 in others. 256 delegates held no elected posts.