People's Democracy

ORISSA 

Consolidate The Expanded Mass Base

Dusmanta Das

AS a part of the Party Central Committee decision, Orissa state unit hurled into action to mobilise people in the state on issues ranging from house sites to supply of foodgrains through PDS, from providing guaranteed work and minimum wages to drinking water, roads and especially the issues of tribal and dalits. The most noteworthy aspect of this movement is that the party was able to reach a wider circle of people who were hitherto out of the periphery of the party and its mass organisations. The two-day deliberations of the Orissa state committee meeting at Bhubaneswar on October 14-15, 2006 reflected this and called upon the Party units to convert this increased mass influence into organised strength and the first opportunity to consolidate is the ensuing panchayat and zilla parishad elections scheduled to be held in January – February 2007.

The two-day state committee meeting was presided over by Sivaji Patnaik. The state secretary Janardan Pati presented the work report. Threadbare discussions were held and certain important decisions were taken to strengthen the party and mass organisations.

The state committee severely critcised the state BJD-BJP government’s fiscal reform policy that is being implemented as per the dictates of World Bank-IMF and DFID. This has resulted in not only reduction in the number of state government employees and teachers but in fact the government has strictly adhered to no new employment. This has accentuated the unemployment problem in the state.

When lakhs of poor people in the state are still landless and languishing under poverty, the state government is handing over thousands and thousands of acres of valuable land to MNCs and monopoly houses under the garb of industrialisation or excellence in education – (e.g POSCO is to be given 4000acres and Vedanta – 10,000 acres of land for which MoU has been singed in a platter i.e. Rs 25000/- per acre). The state government has shown its benevolence to Ambanis of Reliance Group by waiving Rs.840 crores interest and allowing them to repay Rs1200 crore dues in 120 monthly easy installments when the state treasury is almost empty. Allowing more and more special economic zones in the state has attracted severe criticism from the state committee, as the later felt that special economic zones will severely affect the state exchequer as well as labour laws besides losing valuable lands and causing harm to the poor affected people. Hence the state committee decided to organise seminars and other forms of action programmes to create necessary awareness amongst the people about its dangerous fallouts of more and more SEZs in the state.

Expressing serious concern at the rise of prices of vegetables, goods and other essential commodities, the state committee decided to observe October 31, 2006 as protest day throughout the state through demonstrations, meetings and rallies. The state committee reviewed the Party journal circulation and decided to increase it through special efforts. It also gave a call to members and sympathisers to donate for Party building fund to complete the present phase. The state committee finalised the jatha prrogramme of Kisan Sabha, AIDWA and SFI which will pass through various routes of the state as a part of All India jatha of the respective mass organisations.

K Varadarjan, Polit Bureau member and Suryakanta Mishra, central committee member reported the international and national developments as discussed in the last central committee meeting and guided the meeting.