People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 50
December 16, 2012
|
Vol. XXXVI
No. 50 December 16, 2012 |
POLIT
BUREAU COMMUNIQUE
CPI(M)
to Organise All
The Polit
Bureau of the
Communist Party of
FDI IN
RETAIL TRADE
The decision of the UPA government to allow foreign supermarket chains in the multi-brand retail trade has met with widespread opposition from all sections of the people throughout the country. In parliament, after refusing to accept a debate and vote on the issue, the government had to finally accede to the demand. The debate in both houses of parliament revealed that an overwhelming number of political parties representing a clear majority of the MPs are not in favour of allowing FDI in retail trade. This reflects the views of the majority of the people of the country.
However, despite this opposition, the government was able to maneouvre to get the motion against FDI in retail trade defeated. This was possible due to the opportunism of the Samajwadi Party and the dubious position adopted by the Bahujan Samaj Party. Both these parties spoke out against FDI in retail trade but acted in a manner to help the government succeed.
The strong
opposition registered in
parliament and the actual minority status of the government on
the issue should
be utilised to intensify the struggle against the entry of
Walmart and other
supermarket chains into
CASH TRANSFER
SCHEME
The Polit Bureau
reiterates its
strong opposition to the move to implement the cash transfer
scheme to replace
the public goods like foodgrains through public distribution
system and
fertilizers. In a period of high inflation, cash transfers to
replace
subsidised goods is meant to actually cut subsidies since the
cash to be
transferred will not cover the increased costs of the same
amount of subsidised
foodgrains or fertilizers. Cash, instead of foodgrains,
can also end up
to be used for other consumption needs and result in
increasing malnutrition
and hunger. Having cash transfers in place of foodgrains
will end up
dismantling the public distribution system and procurement
from farmers.
Regarding the linking of MNREGA wages to the Aadhar card,
bio-metric
identification for manual workers has a high 20 per cent
margin of error
as fingerprints of such workers change. The linking of
MNREGA enrollment
to Aadhar card holders will restrict the universality of the
scheme.
Moreover, the Bill proposed for the Unique Identification
Number (UID) has
not yet been passed by parliament, but the government is
going ahead with
such far-reaching measures.
As far as scholarship, pensions etc are concerned, most of these schemes are already cash transfer schemes through bank accounts. The amount and also the coverage of these schemes should be increased and linked to the price index.
COMMUNAL
VIOLENCE
The Polit Bureau
noted with concern
the outbreak of communal violence in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh
on October
24. The trouble started during the procession of
the Durga puja
idols for immersion. In a pre-planned manner, the
minority community
came under attack. 42 shops belonging to Muslims were
burnt down.
Attacks took place in two other sub-divisions of the district
the same
evening. This was not a communal riot but a planned
attack on the Muslim
community. The role of the Hindutva outfits has
emerged.
Faizabad is the twin town of
There have been a number of communal incidents in Uttar Pradesh in the recent months. The Samajwadi Party government has to take these communal incidents seriously. The Polit Bureau wants the state government to take firm measures to curb the activities of the communal forces.
In
FIVE CRORE
SIGNATURES
The Polit Bureau called upon all its Party units to undertake the mass signature campaign on food security and for a universal public distribution system. The Left parties have given a call for the collection of five crore signatures by the end of January 2013. The Party units should organise a door to door campaign to collect these signatures.
ALL
JATHAS
The Polit Bureau
decided that the
Party would organise all
