People's Democracy

CPI(M) MPs To Strive For Faster Implementation Of Pro-People Projects

B Prasant

FOLLOWING its meeting with the panchayat and municipal functionaries, the state secretariat of the Bengal unit of the CPI(M) held a meeting of the CPI(M) members of the parliament, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on November 2 at the Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan.  Biman Basu presided over the meting.

At the outset, Anil Biswas stressed that in the task of project-formulation and project-implementation, it was imperative to bring about close cooperation between the Party organisation, the people’s representatives, and the administration. 

The developmental programmes, pointed out Anil Biswas, must be put into operation on a time-bound basis with all the specificities of the process planning worked out in detail. The CPI(M) members of the parliament should assume specific responsibilities in the whole process.

State secretariat member of the Bengal CPI(M), Madan Ghosh placed before the meeting the state’s demands, the different projects involved, and the developmental programmes.

Fifteen members of parliament took part in the discussions in the meeting. The following issues were highlighted during the discussions:

• An adequate supply of pig iron must be ensured in the interests of industrialisation of Bengal

• Procurement of food crops by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) must be increased further in Bengal

• Cold storages and export infrastructure must be put in place for the massive amounts of vegetables, fruits, and flowers produced in Bengal

• The problem over the issuance of Below-the-Poverty-Level (BPL) cards must be resolved

• The chemical hub project at Haldia must be implemented early

• With a view to making up the short fall in fertilisers, the Durgapur fertiliser unit must be revived through industrial use of methane gas

• The National Highways (NH No. 31 and 34) must be repaired and developed

• Necessary funds must be allocated for checking the erosion of the rivers Ganges and Padma affecting districts like Maldah, Murshidabad, Nadia, Hooghly, and Burdwan

• Initiative must be taken to dredge and improve the navigability of the rivers of the two Midnapores, east and west

• The work of the first phase of the Teesta river barrage project must be completed and necessary central funds allocated and released

• A fund of Rs 1000 crore must be allocated from the national disaster fund for the repair and development of the bunds in the Sunderbans

• The Kolkata airport must be modernised and developed to make it reach international standards

• The amount of funds earmarked for refugee rehabilitation and assistance must be increased

• The existing quota for kerosene must be increased

• Central assistance towards supply of fluoride-free water must be given

• The funds promised for the development of medical colleges must be released

• Besides the development of the ports Kulti and Sagar, efforts must be initiated to set up floating sea ports deep into the seas

• The Kulti unit of IISCO must be reactivated

• The MAMC must be revived as the eastern unit of the BHEL

• The concerned ministry of heavy industries must take initiative to revive Burn, Breathwaite

• The Haldia under-sea cable project must be commenced

• The jute mills under the NJMC and Dunlop must be revived

• More financial assistance to be given to the Jadavpore and Sibpur universities keeping within the purview of assistance that the state gets for universities

It was decided at the meeting that to coordinate these tasks, a meeting of the CPI(M) ministers in the Left front government and of CPI(M) members of parliament would be held in the days to come.