BUDDHADEB BHATTACHARJEE SAYS: LEFT FRONT CONFIDENT OF COMFORTABLE MAJORITY

THE Left Front in West Bengal is striving to get 50 per cent or more votes in every booth and constituency in the coming assembly elections, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee categorically asserted in a press conference in Kolkata on March 23. “We were ready to face united opposition from the very beginning and nothing has changed because of an alliance between TMC and Congress”, he said. The Left front will attain comfortable majority, he said with confidence. When asked if this is the toughest election, he said: “No. I have seen many elections, especially 2001 and 2006. At that time also, there was media hype that we were facing a tough election. But we have proved everybody wrong.”

Bhattacharjee explained the basic understanding enunciated in Left Front manifesto and answered wide range of questions.

He said the Left Front and its government has stood beside the people, particularly in unorganised sector, who have been marginalised by market economy. Already 25 lakh unorganised workers have been provided with facilities of provident fund. All such sections would be brought under social security. Self help groups have increased in large numbers and they are being provided support from the government.

The chief minister underlined three major areas of success of the seventh Left Front government. First, the state has become self sufficient in rice production and moved forward in massive food grains production. Second, large sections of marginalised people have been provided with social security. Thirdly, the minorities were provided reservation through OBC category along with development in their education and economic activities. In this regard, Bhattacharjee mentioned that though Left Front government was trying its best to alleviate the socio-economic conditions of the minorities, the recommendations of Ranganath Misra Commission opened up the opportunity of providing reservation for them.

Apart from the general development of the state economy, Left Front in its manifesto has focused on some specific infrastructural areas. The chief minister said that the next government would link up all villages with roads connecting with the main road of the area, would connect all villages with electricity and safe drinking water facilities. New towns will be developed around the existing cities.

Bhattacharjee said, an atmosphere of chaos has been created in the state. We want to stop this. Left Front will never allow the disintegration of the hills from the state. Maoists have already affected damages and they have been supported irresponsibly by the opposition forces. Some forces, by their utter intention to grab power immediately have created a condition of intolerance, indiscipline and formed a fear psychosis among people. West Bengal has to come out of this situation.

‘The Left has always progressed through self critical analysis’, said the chief minister. He pointed out that while there was no option but to industrialise the state, there occurred some conflicts regarding land acquisition. Taking lessons from those incidents, the state government has become cautious and underlined consensus in acquiring land. After 2008, we have acquired 8100 acres of land without any problem. The state government has already worked out a land use map and a land bank would be created on that basis.

He also pointed out that rectification in Party work has also progressed. “We have instructed our Party workers clearly that there should not be any needless intervention in natural life stream of civil society”, the chief minister said.

Bhattacharjee said the people of the state would not invite a danger. He asked, “Will West Bengal be run like the railways ministry is being run?” He charged that the railways minister has laid foundation stones without provision of money for the projects. About six other central ministers from TMC, he said, were like ‘non performing assets’, doing nothing in their official jobs while drawing wages from public exchequer.

Bhattacharjee also demanded that the central projects should be handed over to the states and 50 per cent of the direct and indirect taxes should be devolved to the states as they have to meet the basic amenities of the people like education and health. The eighth Left Front government will mobilise all states to strengthen this demand, he said.

(Our Special Correspondent in Kolkata)

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org/

CHIEF VIGILANCE COMMISSIONER: IGNORANCE (SELECTIVE) IS BLISS

G Mamatha

Dr Manmohan Singh, prime minister of India. Eminent economist, professor – whom it seems the world leaders listen to, for his knowledge. Former governor, Reserve Bank of India, former deputy chairman, Planning Commission of India and presently its chairman and, of course, also former finance minister of the country. A person of ‘impeccable honesty and impeachable integrity’. An enviable CV indeed! Nothing more can a person who leads the country, for that matter any country in the world, can ask for. And blessed is the party for having such a talented personality in its ranks and we for being led by the government headed by him!

As a person, our prime minister is a man of few words. Knowledgeable though he is, he rarely speaks. Rather, he lets his actions speak. We have seen that during his earlier tenure as finance minister, we have seen that during his first term as the prime minister and we are seeing it now in his second term as the prime minister (though it might be his inactions that are catching the headlines these days). It is true that he is one of the rarest among today's breed of politicians, who are branded as corrupt and self-promoting. Certainly, he is not for self-aggrandisement. But neither does he work for the majority's prosperity. For, his policy prescribes the enrichment of a few, again not certainly his near and dear ones, but his beloved 'class'.

Manmohan Singh, these days is called as a political survivor. Survivor he is, but once again not for satiating his selfish interests. He survives to carry forward his class interests. You can notice this from his dogged determination, when he went ahead with the neo-liberal economic reforms during his tenure as the finance minister. You can notice it when he pushed for the Indo-US nuclear deal, ignoring the threat of withdrawal of support by the Left parties. He was confident that the government would survive and survive it did. Such is his confidence on his 'class' to rescue him. And he need not 'know' the nitty-gritties of the 'rescue operation'. Those are the details for you and me – the aam aadmi.

He is clever enough to know that corruption, crony capitalism are all off-shoots of his 'dear' neo-liberal policies. Really he need not know who is taking bribes, who is promoting whom, as long as the government adheres to the broad neo-liberal policies he had initiated. So, he need neither know nor be bothered or concerned about the institutional integrity required of the CVC.

He need not know nor be concerned about the problems of the working class and common people of our country. There are people in his party who travel regularly to 'discover' them. Lest some get the impression that his party and government are totally ignoring their beloved 'aam aadmi', we have the NAC, headed by the venerable madam to posture on aam aadmi's behalf. The ruling party now has clear cut work division. The honourable prime minister will out and out woo his class and imperial masters, while the party president and few general secretaries will go around trying to fool the common people.

The Urdu couplet that the prime minister quoted in his reply to a parliamentary debate, in fact, suits his yearning for the blessings of imperial masters. This is the subservience that we witness in all the WikiLeak cables related to India.

The prime minister is true to his class and cannot be blamed for it. We should learn from him. We too should be true to our class – the working class and other toiling sections. Just as he works hard, day and night to protect their interests, we too should work for not only protecting our class interests, but also win our rightful due. As Pete Seeger sang, it is time for us to decide, “Which side are you dear”!

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org/

WIKILEAKS CABLES: A GOVERNMENT COMPROMISED - PRAKASH KARAT

THE publication of the confidential US diplomatic cables emanating from India is having a significant fall out. At one stroke, it has laid bare the nature of the relationship between India and the USA during the tenure of the UPA government and earlier the NDA government. The publication and analysis of the US embassy cables accessed by The Hindu through Wikileaks is ongoing, but what has been made available so far reveals a disturbing picture. The US has acquired an influential position in various spheres – strategic affairs, foreign policy and economic policies. The US has access to the bureaucracy, military, security and intelligence systems and has successfully penetrated them at various levels. The cables cover a period mainly from 2005 to 2009, the very period when the UPA government went ahead to forge the strategic alliance with the US.

FOREIGN POLICY: TURN AROUND

It is well known that the Manmohan Singh government went back on its commitment in the common minimum programme to pursue an independent foreign policy. The CPI (M) and the Left parties had to oppose the U turn in foreign policy from the outset. How this reversal was effected has been laid out through a number of cables setting out the efforts of the US embassy and high level functionaries of the Bush administration. The volte face by the Manmohan Singh government in voting against Iran in the IAEA in September 2005 was one such crucial event. The cables illustrate how the US government exercised maximum pressure to achieve this turn around. The Indian government was told that unless India takes a firm stand against Iran, the US Congress would not pass the legislation to approve the nuclear deal. Prior to the Bush-Manmohan Singh meeting on September 13 at New York during the UN General Assembly session, intense pressure was brought upon the UPA government. It is after this meeting between Manmohan Singh and Bush that instructions were sent to the Indian ambassador in Vienna to go along with the United States in the IAEA. After the vote the US ambassador in a cable termed it as “the most important signal so far of the UPA’s commitment to building a stronger US-India relationship”.

Other cables reveal how the United States succeeded in getting India to coordinate policy towards other countries in South Asia like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The close cooperation with Israel under US aegis is also spelt out.

The success achieved in getting India’s foreign policy to be “congruent” to US policy is smugly stated in an embassy cable that Indian officials are `loathe to admit publicly that India and the US have begun coordinating foreign policies’.

DEFENCE COOPERATION

The second area where the US influence grows appreciably is in military and security cooperation. The UPA government signed the Framework Agreement on Defence Cooperation with the United States in June 2005. The then defence minister, Pranab Mukherjee, had told the media before his departure for Washington that it was merely an exploratory visit. One of the cables from the US ambassador to the American defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld spells out the agenda which the Americans hope to accomplish during the visit. The Defence Framework Agreement was the first of this type to be signed by India with any country. It envisages a whole gamut of cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries. It is evident from the cables that the US government and the Pentagon had been negotiating and planning for such an agreement from the time of the NDA government.

SECURITY & INTELLIGENCE COOPERATION

The cables show the growing coordination of the security establishments of the two countries reaching a high level of cooperation after the Mumbai terrorist attack. The then National Security Advisor, M K Narayanan was seen by the Americans as eager to establish a high degree of security cooperation involving agencies such as the FBI and the CIA.

The cables also provide a glimpse of how the Americans are able to penetrate the intelligence and security apparatus. Among the forty cables which were first published by the British paper, The Guardian, there are two instances of improper contacts. In the first case a member of the National Security Advisory Board meets an American embassy official and offers to provide information about Iranian contacts in India and requests for his visit to the United States to be arranged in return. In another case the US embassy reports that it is able to get access to terrorism related information directly from a police official serving in the Delhi Police, rather than going through official channels.

In the current group of cables published, there is one which pertains to the cabinet expansion in 2006. Here there is reference to “our contact” (the name is withheld) in the government owned Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL). The cables show that information is sourced from not just the media but from sources within various government ministries.

PENETRATION & ESPIONAGE

The collaboration between the intelligence and security agencies of the two countries had already resulted in American penetration. Two cases of espionage had come up. During the NDA government, a RAW officer, Rabinder Singh was recruited by the CIA. When his links were uncovered, he was helped by the CIA to flee to the United States. During the UPA government a systems analyst in the National Security Council secretariat was found to have been recruited by the CIA, the contact having been established through the US-India Cyber Security Forum.

The cables show a surge in pro-American decisions in foreign policy and economic policies in the 2005-2008 period. The United States utilised every lever to get India to accept all its interests in exchange for the nuclear deal. Following the two successive votes against Iran in the IAEA in September 2005 and February 2006, the union cabinet chaired by the prime minister decided in a meeting in 2006 to join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline project which the Americans wanted. This was a clear signal that the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline was being scuttled as demanded by the Americans. It is in this period that there was a significant increase in the military joint exercises and other areas of defence collaboration. The cables clearly show the priority the United States had in getting India to sign the Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement which is known popularly as the Logistics Supply Agreement. This would enable US naval ships and air force planes to access Indian ports and bases for refueling, maintenance and supplies. The Left had strongly opposed the signing of this agreement, a draft of which had been prepared for approval by the cabinet.

POLITICAL INFLUENCE

The political influence wielded by the United States is starkly revealed in another cable regarding the cabinet expansion which took place in 2006. The assessment of the cabinet reshuffle by the US ambassador states, “The net result of the reshuffle, however, is a cabinet that is likely to be excellent for US goals in India (and Iran)”. The report notes that five ministers with strong pro-US credentials have been appointed viz Murli Deora, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Ashwini Kumar and Saifuddin Soz. The report correctly remarks that the Left would be infuriated by this shuffle and predicts that “Viewing this shuffle as shift towards the US, the Left has become more alienated from the Congress and more determined to obstruct UPA’s economic liberalisation and foreign policy initiatives, all but ensuring political fireworks in the months ahead”.

The American ambassador can hardly contain his joy at the removal of Manishankar Aiyar as the minister for petroleum and natural gas and his replacement by Murli Deora. Aiyar is pilloried for his initiatives taken in the energy sector with regard to the IPI pipeline and his visit to China. Murli Deora, on the contrary is lauded for his pro-Americanism and his close links with big business.

Under the Manmohan Singh regime, the Americans have been provided licence to penetrate and influence every sector of government. It is no use blaming the Americans for utilising these opportunities. After all it is the UPA government that decided in 2007 that the mandatory mid-career programmes training for IAS officers should be undertaken in various American universities. Whether they are civil servants or military officials, the way to go ahead is to get training in the United States.

POLITICAL CORRUPTION

The cables show that the Americans are keen observers of the high level corruption that exists in India’s political system. Understandably the cable which reports the huge amounts of money being used for buying MPs of the opposition during the confidence vote in July 2008 has caused a furore. The Americans were willing for the Manmohan Singh government to do everything to win the vote, so that the nuclear deal goes through. Any means, fair or foul, was acceptable for the Americans. A cable from the Chennai consulate provides a graphic and accurate account of how the DMK distributes money to voters, as it did in Thirumangalam by-election and the Madurai Lok Sabha polls. With such knowledge the Americans have a correct measure of the corrupt politicians and how they can purchase them for their purposes.

The cables in the run up to the nuclear deal and the political struggle which ensued show how the United States was most interested in getting the nuclear deal through. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the coterie of officers around him who touted the nuclear deal as the next biggest thing to happen to India since independence were actually advancing America’s interests, more than safeguarding the interests of the country. As the cables make it clear, the United States was after not just the commercial benefit of a few billion dollars in sale of nuclear reactors, but getting India firmly on its side as a strategic ally.

The prime minister and the Congress leadership are trying to brazen out these exposures. They make the claim that these cables are unverifiable and cannot be treated as authentic. This is a pathetic excuse when everyone knows that the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, herself had rang up the Indian foreign minister to warn about the leakage of these cables and the consequent embarrassment they may cause.

The Wikileaks cables are a sad and revealing commentary of where Manmohan Singh and the Congress leadership have landed the country.

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org/

TAMILNADU: A FAILED GOVT FACES POPULAR PROTESTS

S P Rajendran

TAMILNADU, the southern-most state of the country, recently witnessed massive protests against the anti-people policies of the state and central governments. The state is currently being ruled by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) which is a close ally of the Congress in the UPA and a partner in the central government. Here we recount some of these protest actions.

On February 9, the Students Federation of India (SFI) held a big procession of the hosteller students towards the state assembly building at Chennai, demanding basic amenities in the BC, SC and ST student welfare hostels. The processionists, who later turned into a public rally, also demanded healthy food in the government hostels while urging the government to open more hostels as the number of students is fast increasing. More than 5000 students, including about a thousand girls, joined the procession, carrying the SFI flags in their hands. State SFI leaders K S Kanagaraj and J Rajmohan presided over the rally. CPI (M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan inaugurated the rally which B Uchimakali, convener of the SFI’s hostel students committee, V Karikalan and others addressed.

On February 10, more than 20,000 people organised a protest action under the banner of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Tirupur, demanding basic needs like drinking water, ration cards, house-site pattas and homestead plots for the homeless. T K Rangarajan, a member of Rajya Sabha and of the Central Committee of the party, addressed the masses. He charged that the DMK government had utterly failed even in arranging the minimal infrastructure during its 5 years long rule. CPI (M) state secretariat member K Thangavel, district secretary K Kamaraj, DYFI state president S Muthukannan, Tirupur south city secretary M Rajagopal and other leaders participated in the action.

On the same day, in protest against the irresponsible attitude of the DMK government regarding the more than two lakh vacant places in almost all its departments all over Tamilnadu, the TNGEA (Tamilnadu Government Employees Association) organised a statewide one day token strike. Responding to the call, nearly two lakh employees struck work and held demonstrations in their respective areas. The massive strike paralysed the entire administration of the state government in the collectorates, taluk offices, rural development offices, union offices, CTOs and treasuries etc. One of the major demands in the employees’ charter of demands was that the new pension scheme must be given up.

On February 14, cloth merchants and weavers in Erode and Karur districts went on a two-day strike in protest against the spiralling prices of cotton yarn. Over 5,000 wholesale and retail outlets selling yarn and other textile goods in Erode town and other parts of the district remained closed. Powerloom weavers in Chennimalai, Vijayamangalam and a few other parts also participated in the protest and stopped production. Hundreds of weaving and knitting units in Karur as well remained closed. Members of the Erode Cloth Merchants Association, who had called for the strike, also observed a fast here, urging the central and state governments to initiate measures to rein in the prices. One may note that the weaving sector, the second largest employer in the district, has been severely affected due to the sharp increases in cotton yarn prices. There has been an increase of 50 per cent to 60 per cent in the cotton yarn prices since last year, which has put a lot of stress on the weaving units. The merchants urged the government to ban the export of raw cotton and cotton yarn in order to protect the domestic industries.

In recent days, several parts of the state witnessed continuous struggle of milk producers from various associations, including the Tamilnadu Milk Producers Association which is affiliated to the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS). The milk producers also went on a strike for ten days to demand an increase in the procurement price for milk. They are demanding a hike of Rs 8 per litre for buffalo milk and Rs 5 for cow milk. They charged that the policies of the DMK government favoured the private milk corporations by demolishing the state owned milk corporation called AAVIN. They insisted that the cooperative milk societies must be allowed to properly function. The militant struggle of the milk producers forced the government come down from its high pedestal and talk to their representatives. Finally, the government accepted the major demands including an increase in procurement prices. Earlier, the government had unleashed repressive measures and arrested the milk producers’ leaders like K Mohd Ali, A M Munusamy and others.

The Left has won the election to the educational committee of Annamalai University, the largest and one of the oldest universities in the state. (The university is situated in Chidhambaram, in Cuddalore district.) Asokan, Selvaraj, Natarajan, Vezhavan, Palnivel, Anbuvel and Seeman, all the seven candidates belonging to the federation of teachers' associations, were declared elected. They will serve on the educational committee for the next three years.

CPI (M) SAYS NO TO BJP IN ALLIANCE

On February 13, the Communist of Party of India (Marxist) made it clear that it will not accept the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the alliance led by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). CPI (M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan told reporters at Ramanathapuram that the communist parties were following a policy of not having any electoral tie-up with communal forces.

Asked about the indication given by the Tamilnadu BJP leaders that their party was ready to join hands with the opposition parties, including the Left, in order to defeat the DMK-Congress alliance, Ramakrishnan said the Left parties would align with any outfit, but not with the Congress or the BJP.

Asked whether the CPI (M) was happy with the progress made in the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the 2G spectrum scam, Ramakrishnan said it was premature to comment on it as the CBI was under the control of the centre. Though the case was registered in 2009, former telecom minister A Raja was arrested only recently. The CPI (M) leader also said there were reports that members of the ruling family, big industrial houses and others were among the beneficiaries in the spectrum scam. The CBI should bring to book all conspirators and beneficiaries, he demanded.

Pointing to the sharp increases in the prices of essential commodities, Ramakrishnan said the state and central governments had utterly failed to control the situation. Stating that the price of petrol was hiked seven times since the fuel was decontrolled recently, he said the Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had said the centre would decontrol the diesel and cooking gas soon.

Earlier, Ramakrishnan inaugurated the work for construction of the party’s district committee office building at Ramanathapuram. State secretariat member S Noor Mohemmed, senior leader and Semmalar editor S A Perumal, CPI (M) district secretary R Gnanavasagam and senior leader M Karuppuraja were also present on the occasion.

WORKERS PROTEST IN PUDUCHERRY

On February 14, the Puducherry police arrested 362 workers of the Puducherry Cooperative Spinning Mills Limited (SPINCO) for trying to take out a protest rally in front of the residence of V Vaithilingam, the chief minister. The workers had assembled near the Swadeshi Cotton Mills, to demand higher wages and other benefits. When they tried to take a procession out to the chief minister's residence, the police blocked their way near the mills and took them into custody. Puducherry is now under the rule of the Congress party.

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org/

KERALA: LEFT DEMOCRATIC FRONT MANIFESTO: ALTERNATIVE MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT

K K Ragesh

THE Left Democratic Front (LDF) of Kerala released its election manifesto on March 15, pledging to the people of Kerala to reinforce the ongoing welfare schemes in and comprehensive development of the state. The manifesto describes how the LDF government realised the promises it had made during the last assembly election and, on the foundation of its credible track record, offers a future course of action.

TRUE TO PROMISES

In fact, no one can deny that the LDF has fulfilled all the promises it had made five years back. It promised to increase the welfare pensions from Rs 110 to 200 a month, and hiked them to Rs 400. It talked of providing rice at a fair price through ration shops, and distributed ration at Rs 2 per kilo and that too to all. The 2006 manifesto talked of a rural employment guarantee scheme, and extended it to urban areas as well. It implemented an income guarantee scheme in traditional sectors also. The EMS Total Housing Scheme and the MN Laksham veedu renovation project aim to provide housing to all. All house loans of the poor were written off. Toilet facility and electricity have been ensured in all houses in the state.

The 2006 LDF manifesto offered to increase the procurement price of paddy and did increase it from Rs 7 to Rs 14 --- a 100 per cent increase --- while the central government’s paddy procurement price is only Rs 10 per kilo. Debt relief was a significant promise of the LDF manifesto in 2006. The LDF government formed a debt relief commission to provide debt relief to the farmers and that too much before the central government’s declaration in this regard. The LDF government further extended the debt relief to the SC- ST sections and to fishing workers.

The UDF (2001-06) government was keen to privatise the state PSUs, propagating that public sector undertaking were making heavy losses and thus burdening the exchequer. In fact it was the UDF government policies that led to this pathetic situation when the PSUs made a loss of Rs 96 crore. In the LDF regime, however, all the PSUs became sound and made a profit of Rs 300 crore since 2006. The 2006 election manifesto of the LDF had just committed to protect the PSUs but in after five years it delivered much more than that. It made all the PSUs profitable and created 8 new PSUs, while the recent budget offered to set up 5 more PSUs. The IT sector too made remarkable progress in this period. In all, while inviting private capital, the LDF government has been vigilant to protect the state’s interests.

During the UDF regime, land for tribals was a crucial question but it did not distribute any land among the landless tribals; rather their agitations were suppressed. The LDF government, as it had assured in 2006, distributed land among 3000 tribal people. Kerala became the first state to implement the Forest Rights Act. Its infrastructure development including road development measures are widely appreciated and now it has approved a comprehensive road development programme with an outlay of Rs 40,000 crore. Unlike the UDF policy to privatise health and education, public spending in education and health was increased manifold as the LDF manifesto had promised.

The LDF manifesto gave importance to environmental questions and the LDF government introduced the concept of green budgeting. To the reserve forest area have been added another 50,000 acres of land. It also introduced gender budgeting and gave due care to all sections including women and children in the planning process. The 2006 manifesto promised to withdraw the ban on recruitment in government services imposed by the UDF government. While the UDF government eliminated 13,600 posts in government departments, the LDF government created 31,000 new posts therein. The ban on recruitment was withdrawn and 1,75,000 appointments were made during this period.

The LDF promise to ensure higher economic growth than the national average was accomplished in this period and that too in the midst of the global economic crisis that marred the earnings of the people of Kerala working abroad. The national growth rate during the last year was 8.6 percent; in Kerala it was 9.6 percent.

AIMING STILL HIGHER

Thus the 2011 manifesto vividly depicts how the LDF government strove to fulfil the promises its 2006 manifesto had made and how it delivered more than its promises. While doing so, it exposes the UDF rhetoric and betrayal by comparing the experiences of both the LDF and the UDF periods. In order to strengthen the ongoing developmental programmes and welfare schemes, continuation of the LDF government is extremely important. On the foundation of its past work, the 2011 manifesto underlines how this new model of alternative development can be strengthened and welfare schemes widened to uplift the downtrodden sections of society. It lays emphasis on comprehensive development of the state in all spheres. The gist of the manifesto’s overall approach may be summarised in seven points.

1) The manifesto assures to make Kerala the fastest growing state in the country. To this aim, fast growth in agriculture is vital and the manifesto gives it utmost importance. It also visualises to build up various other sectors that suit Kerala, including IT, tourism, electronics, and to develop value adding agro industries.

2) The manifesto promises to augment infrastructure, including a comprehensive road development project worth Rs 40,000 crore and to develop a high speed railway line, national waterway traffic, new seaports, airports and gas pipeline in a time bound manner. While inviting private investment to the state, the manifesto asserts commitment to strengthen the public sector as the accelerator of development.

3) It aims to enhance employment opportunities through economic growth. Thus 25 lakh new employment opportunities will be ensured in various non-agricultural sectors --- 10 lakh in small scale sector, 10 lakh in service sector, 5 lakh in the IT, BT and organised sectors --- besides another 50,000 in government sector.

4) The neo-liberal framework of the central government is escalating inequalities and poverty. While targeting for a higher rate of economic growth through its alternative policies, the LDF pledges to ensure social security to all the common people, striving to fulfil the ongoing schemes to ensure home for all and to guarantee food, water and power in all houses. The question of the remaining lands will be solved. Sufficient compensation and comprehensive rehabilitation will be ensured while acquiring land for public purposes.

5) Public health and education will be strengthened. To augment work efficiency and skill in various enterprises, the VHSC, polytechnics and ITIs will be modernised. Investments in higher education will increase to make Kerala a knowledge society.

6) The manifesto aims to make Kerala a women friendly state. Numerous projects will be introduced to bring the vulnerable sections to the mainstream.

7) The fiscal policy of the government will be development oriented; revenue deficit will be reduced without curtailing the welfare schemes. Numerous innovative projects to augment infrastructure will be designed and necessary administrative reforms initiated to accomplish them. Police reforms will be implemented on the basis of the new Act. Immediate reforms will be made in the Secretariat and the revenue department.

It is for these aims that the manifesto appeals for the support of all people to build a rapidly growing Kerala with ensured welfare and social justice. It also asserts commitment to uphold and safeguard the secular values and ethos, and avows to eradicate corruption from public life.

SECURITY FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE

The manifesto assures welfare and life security to all people of Kerala from cradle to grave. The government had already declared one month maternity leave with salary in the unorganised sector, and this will be extended to three months in five years. The government will deposit Rs 10,000 against every newborn child, that will mature after 14 years. All school children will be ensured free education, books, midday meal and uniforms. All old-age and other welfare pensions will be increased from Rs 400 to 1,000.

The EMS Total Housing Scheme will soon be completed to ensure a home for everyone. Total electricity programme has already been completed in 100 assembly constituencies; it will be completed in the remaining 40 constituencies within six months. Drinking water connection will be guaranteed to houses within five years.

The central government has recognised only 11.5 lakhs of households in Kerala as BPL families. But the LDF government will include all the poor sections --- agricultural labourers, fishing workers, SC/STs, workers in traditional industries etc --- in the BPL list. Ration shops will be recognised as the franchisee outlets of the Civil Supplies Corporation and on every ration card food items worth Rs 300 will be given for Rs 150 only. Unlike the central policy to cut back the kerosene allotment, the LDF manifesto promises to provide a subsidy of Rs 20 per litre of kerosene.

Apart from various other measures for the welfare of ST sections. The LDF assures agricultural land for them. The SC/ST welfare schemes will cover the converted Christians too. A new department will be set up for the development of backward sections. Gender budgeting will be strengthened and Rs 7,500 crore allocated for various projects where women are stakeholders. Universal health care, including free health care for the poor, will be ensured.

While envisaging and implementing numerous welfare measures, the manifesto gives due importance to various projects for generating more employment including new-generation jobs. The manifesto thus projects to increase the area of IT parks fivefold. Its vision is to set up biotechnology parks and to begin new courses in areas such as nanotechnology.

Pre-school education for all in the relevant age group, 100 percent internet connectivity in all schools, Right to Service Act, Inter-State Migrant Workers’ Act etc. are some of the other assurances the manifesto gives.

The LDF manifesto vividly shows the way for the state’s overall development, with the marginalised and needy sections as its focus of concern. It envisages economic progress of the state through various means. While using private capital, it ensures government intervention and asserts the role of the PSUs in the development process. It stands against sabotaging welfare schemes and PDS by curtailing government expenses. Rather, it envisages innovative methods for resource mobilisation and added income generation. The Kerala Model based on the LDF government’s alternative policy thus needs to be further strengthened in accordance with the vision its manifesto puts forward.

Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org/