Report Of The Credentials Committee

THE central committee had decided that the number of comrades to attend the 18th congress would total 758, to be divided into 699 delegates and 59 observers.

One member of the central committee, P Sanzgiri could not attend the congress due to illness. Another CC member Somnath Chatterjee did not attend the congress. Thus a total of 697 delegates and 59 observers attended the congress. Of the 697 delegates, 64 are female and 633 are male. Of the 59 observers, 6 are female and 53 are male.

Among the delegates/observers attending the congress, Samar Mukherjee is the oldest delegate. He is 92 years old. The youngest delegate is G Selva from Tamil Nadu, who is 27 years old.

Ch Tejeshwar Rao from Andhra Pradesh underwent longest jail life of 13 years and ten months. Benode Das from West Bengal spent 11 years and one month in jail.

P K Chandranandan delegate from Kerala had the longest underground life of 12 years and six months.

Harkishan Singh Surjeet has the longest Party life. He joined the Party in 1934.

Harkishan Singh Surjeet, R Umanath, Koratala Satyanarayana and N Shankaraiah have attended all but one of the 18 congresses of the Party.

Of the delegates/observers, those who studied up to Post Graduate level were 202, upto Graduate level – 275; inter/pre-Degree/HSC etc – 132; Class X/Matric – 97; upto Class VIII – 31; upto Class V – 18. There was one delegate who had no formal schooling.

As for marital status, 642 delegates and 56 observers were married while 50 delegates and three observers were unmarried. Five delegates had not mentioned anything.

As for the status of delegates/observers in the Party, 72 delegates were central committee members; 373 delegates and 42 observers were state committee members; 196 delegates and 2 observers were district committee members; 6 delegates were zonal committee members while 3 delegates and 2 observers were members of the local committee; 44 delegates and 12 observers were branch members.

A total of 332 delegates/observers had Party organisation as their main responsibility; 28 had agricultural labour front; 119 kisan front; 137 trade union front; 14 middle class employees; 52 women front; 12 student front; 16 youth front and 7 cultural front. 37 comrades had other responsibilities.

As for their status in mass organisations was concerned, 112 were all India office bearers; 190 all India committee members; 109 state level office bearers; 109 state level committee members; 83 district level office bearers; 27 district level committee members and 41 were working in other responsibilities.

Among the 100 part-timers attending the congress, 82 were delegates and 18 observers. As for their profession, one delegate was a worker; one an agricultural labour; two poor peasants; six middle peasants and three rich peasants. 14 delegate/observers were office employees; 16 were school teachers; 14 college teachers; 12 lawyers; 2 engineers/technicians; 4 medical practitioners and 25 were working in other professions.

A total of 165 delegates/observers were attending this congress for the first time; 96 attended two congresses; 85 three; 68 four; 62 five; 65 six; 58 seven; 56 eight; 22 nine; 33 had attended 10 congresses; 14 attended 11 congresses; 10 attended 12 congresses; three comrades attended 13; two 14; five 15; another five attended 16 congresses. Four comrades attended all seventeen congresses held prior to this. Three had not mentioned this detail.

Other relevant classifications of delegates and observers as revealed by the credential forms are given in accompanying boxes.

Wholetimers and Part-timers

	Delegate	Observer
Whole Timer	615	41
Part-timers	82	18

Monthly Income

Monthly Income	Delegate	Observer
Below Rs. 1000	11	0
Rs. 1001 to 2000	186	16
Rs. 2001 to 3000	132	12
Rs. 3001 to 4000	76	8
Rs. 4001 to 5000	63	2
Rs. 5000 to 10000	141	7
Above Rs. 10,000	68	12

Entry Into Party

Entry Front	Delegate	Observer
Agricultural Labour	20	1
Student	308	29
Youth	73	4
Kisan	82	5
Trade Union	114	11
Women	33	4
Cultural	14	2
Others	50	3
Not Mentioned	3

Class Composition of Delegates/Observers

Class Origin	Delegate	Observer
Working Class	110	4
Agricultural Labour	33	2
Poor Peasant	86	7
Middle Peasant	143	17
Rich Peasant	36
Middle Class	252	27
Landlord	23	1
Bourgeois	4
Petit Bourgeois	10	1

Jail Life

Period	Delegate	Observer
No Experience	253	28
Less than two months	225	22
Two to Six months	82	4
Six months to one year	8
One year to two years	66	2
Two to Five years	47	2
Five to Ten years	15	1
Above Ten years	2

Age Distribution of Delegates/Observers

Joining Period

Period	Delegate	Observer
Before 1947	27	0
Between 1947 and 1963	121	03
Between 1964 and 1977	354	16
Between 1978 and 1990	171	35
After 1990	15	08
Not mentioned	09	0

Period	Delegate	Observer
Less than two months	51	6
Two to Six months	54	4
Six months to 1 year	26	2
One year to Two years	67	1
Two to Five years	38	1
Five to Ten years	9
Above Ten years	1

Elected	Delegate	Observer
MP	31	1
Minister	25
MLA	32	1
MLC	1
Corporation/Municipality	14
Zilla Parishad	12
Panchayat	10	3
University Senate	1
Others	25	1

Age Group	Delegates	Observers
Below 30 years	01	01
30 to 40 years	45	13
41 to 50 years	154	25
51 to 60 years	257	11
61 to 70 years	159	06
71 years & above	79	03
Not mentioned	02	00

People's Democracy