People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Vol. XXXIII
No.
44 November 01, 2009 |
Floods
Cause Devastation In Karnataka
Jaykumar
KARNATAKA
has been in
the grip of unprecedented floods. The fury of the floods has washed
away more
than 200 people and three lakh houses in
BJP GOVT�S
CALLOUSNESS
About
1500 villages were
flooded and more than seven lakh people have become homeless. As a
result,
about 6.5 lakh people are dependent on 2000 ganji
kendras (temporary food outlets) which are being run by the
government and
other non-governmental organisations. Besides the death of thousands of
domestic animals, it has completely destroyed 25 lakh hectares of
standing
crops which include paddy, jowar, soya, chilly, groundnut, cotton, tur
dal,
grape, coffee, sunflower, etc. It has washed away a large number of
borewells
and pumpsets, roads, bridges, water tanks, etc in the flood hit areas,
which
has further intensified the misery of the people. Unavailability of
potable
water has further contributed to this misery. Large tracts of
agricultural land
have lost their fertility. People have been struggling hard without
food to
eat, water to drink and shelter to live.
The
BJP government of
the state is, however, totally callous to the situation.
Though
the
meteorological department had warned about heavy rainfall a week in
advance, the
BJP government�s machinery was busy in dussehra
celebrations. Even as the floods were claiming hundreds of lives, chief
minister Yediyurappa and his ministerial colleagues were engaged in
listening
to communal sermons delivered by the fascist RSS and Modi in their baithaks. When the people were crying
for help sitting on rooftops and trees, there was no one to help.
The
fact is that beside
being deaf and dumb when it is a question of rushing some relief to the
masses,
the BJP government is itself in a crisis.
The
government says the relief
works will necessitate a rise in taxes, and this issue too has put the
BJP government
into a crisis. The BJP government is contemplating to increase the
burden of
taxes on the common man under the pretext of mobilising resources for
the
relief works.
Chief
minister
Yediyurappa tried to increase the tax of Rs 1,000 on each lorry
carrying ores
from the
The
callousness of the government
is evident also from the fact that it is asking the flood victims to
produce
their ration card in order to provide them provide food.
The
commitment of this
government was exposed by its own dictum that only those who produce
ration
cards or voter ID cards would be provided food at the ganji
kendras. When the people have lost everything that belonging
to them, nothing could be more inhumane and brutal than asking for
identity proofs
to provide food to a dying man. It has already wound up the ganji
kendras at many places.
DIRTY
POLITICS
That
the BJP is playing
politics with the relief work is clear from the fact that government
funds are
now routed through the RSS. It is relying more on the RSS and its
outfit, the
Sevabharati, for the relief work and has been routing the public fund
through
these two organisations.
Though
the state BJP government
has announced a number of relief measures like construction of three
lakhs
house, rehabilitation of 220 villages, compensation for crop losses,
compensation
to the people who have lost their houses, etc, the affected people
realised in
no time that these announcements are nothing but mere advertisements.
After
all said and done,
it is for the BJP ministers the time to loot. The state government
neither has
the commitment to undertake relief work and to provide food to affected
people
nor has transparency in collection and distribution of funds collected
from the
public. There has been large-scale fund collection from the industries
by BJP
ministers under the guise of flood relief. The nexus between
politicians,
contractors and bureaucracy has ensured that contract works like roads,
bridges,
construction of houses, etc are entrusted to the liked ones.
Further,
what added
insult to this injury is the central government's stand that this could
not be
declared as a natural calamity. The central government thus washed off
its
hands by releasing a mere Rs 1,000 crore, a pittance.
However,
even the grand
old Congress party has done very little for the aam aadmi,
by whom it swears, by involving its rank and file in the
relief work.
It
is high time the state
and the central governments must intensify efforts to provide relief to
the
people under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGREGA), and
take steps to prevent corruption and leakages. It needs to conduct the
relief
works in such a way as to help the poor farmers, agricultural workers
and other
sections of the common people.
CPI(M)�S
RELIEF WORK
The
Karnataka state committee
of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has directed all party units
to plunge
into relief operations. The party�s state secretariat members G N
Nagaraj, K
Neela, and Nithyananda Swamy immediately visited the flood-hit areas.
Its state
committee members Maruthi Manpade, Basavaraj, Bheemsi Kalladgi, and
Anna Rai
Iliger also visited the submerged areas. District committee and taluk
committee
members in these areas are constantly through the affected villages.
They organised
agitations for immediate relief and gheroed ministers in two places,
demanding
immediate attention and relief. The party has given a call for
collection of
funds. The Kisan Sabha has also given a call for protests and agitation
all
over the state demanding relief. A jatha was conducted among the
affected
people in
On
October 26, the CPI(M),
CPI and Forward Bloc organised a convention to press for comprehensive
and
quick relief to the flood affected people besides demanding action
against the rising
food price and for food security. The CPI(M)�s Polit Bureau member
Sitaram
Yechury, MP, inaugurated the convention while Kerala government�s food
minister
Divakar and West Bengal�s agriculture and civil supplies minister
Narain Dev participated
in this convention. During the convention, Yechury distributed food
materials
to some flood affected families.
The
convention put
forward the following demands:
1)
The central
government must declare these floods as a natural calamity and provide
the
victims maximum possible support.
2)
There must be Rs five
lakh compensation to the family of each person who died in this
calamity.
3)
For the next 3
months, 35 kg of food grains and kerosene must be supplied to all the
affected
people
free of cost.
4)
Rs One lakh must be
provided for reconstruction of all the collapsed and damaged houses.
5)
Free potable water must
be supplied to the flood-hit areas. Spread of communicable diseases
must be
prevented.
6)
Compensation of Rs
10,000 acre per acre to the peasants must be provided and the loans
they owe
must be waived off.
7)
Banks must provide
interest free loan to develop the agricultural land which has been
washed off.
8)
Damaged pumpsets must
be repaired. Compensation must be paid to the people who have lost
domestic
animals.
9)
Road and electricity
connectivity must be restored on a war footing.
10)
All tax collection must
immediately stop in the affected areas. All school fees, exam fees must
be
waived off. Midday meal must be extended to the night time as well.
11)
MHREGA must be
extended to 200 days in a year and the daily wage under it increased to
Rs 200.