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November 26–December 2, 2017

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Naga F r a m e w o r k Agreement Public: CPI.........................7

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Central Organ of the Communist Party of India

Vol. 65

No. 48

(Total Pages 16)

November 26–December 2, 2017

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Filled with BJP Nominees...............8

Ignore Workers Demands, Face Indefinite Strike

NDA government led by RSS-BJP has completed almost three and half years in power with Narendra Modi as its head who is since then busy either traveling abroad in the name of inviting foreign investors or when in India, inaugurating various projects, mostly old ones renamed and a few new ones as events, projected glamorously, whereas the economy is in shambles, with manufacturing going down, peasantry suffering immensely, micro-small and medium industries shattered by demonetization and then with faltered GST. It is out and out an anti-worker regime which has contempt for the poor and downtrodden sections and treats them as filth. The policy to curtail and contain trade union rights of workers were begun within a month of the government coming to power and were intensified with every passing day from the time of bringing three bills in Parliament as early as in July-August 2014. Modi government is very clear in its agenda of integrating Indian economy with international finance capital reigning over along with corporates of Indian

Amarjeet Kaur and foreign origin. With that objective the cabinet listed 74 Public Sector units for the purpose of disinvestment, transferring public resources in the name of PPP model and stifling these by not letting them business, rather snatching the businesses to favour Indian corporates as well as the multinational companies. The examples are before us how auctioning of 400 railway platforms is being pushed and the railway land is being favoured to corporates friendly to government. Under the garb of beautification and i n f r a s t r u c t u r e development, the contract was granted to Reliance Company in collaboration with French firm for making fighter planes by snatching away the earlier contract from Hindustan Aeronautic Limited, a public sector. The contract of providing diesel to Indian Railways was given to Reliance taking away the sole rights of Indian Oil Company another of our public sector units. The prime land with Defense is next target and steps are already being taken aggressively. It is not only

that more than 100 items which our government sector/public sector units in defense sector were manufacturing have been taken away from our units and favoured to private sector, but the government has gone to the extent of endangering and jeopardizing India’s security through its mission of 100 percent FDI in defense. It is not new invention of Modi, it is the politics and policy of RSSBharatiya Jansangh Party (Presently Bhartiya Janta Party)] who had opposed tooth and nail, the policy of establishing public sector enterprises in core sector of our economy, be it mining, oil exploration or heavy industry. The slogan that “the government has no business to do business” was coined by Jansangh in 1950’s opposing Nehru’s policy of self reliant economy. Later on they had also opposed national take over of sick industries as well as the nationalization of banks and insurance. They have been in opposition to the basic concept that government should have resources for public expenditure in favour of its people. Now being in majority in Parliament BJP is in hurry

to dismantle whatever was built in the decades of Independent India. Jan Sangh /BJP has also been opposed to the basic research as responsibility of the government and hence DRDO is under attack for decimation. The role of RSS/Jansangh/BJP in the field of education was always dubious. Now they are out to NCERT and SCERT. Every democratic/ autonomous structure is being weakened to be filled by the hardcore cadres of their brands. It is no surprise that Amitabh Kant CEO of Niti Ayog placed his thesis that government should withdraw itself from education and health and these be handed over to private sector. In similar manner water bodies and management, sanitation, cheap housing for common people are only lip service and not an agenda for the government. Modi government is not only rabidly reactionary in its outlook in almost all spheres of economic, social and cultural life but also taking steps in the direction of doing away with the concept of ‘Welfare State’ and going ahead with IMFWorld Bank thesis of abdication of state responsibility for providing basic needs to its people. The distress of farmers and agricultural labour is further perpetuated by the government policy of land grab in favour of corporates and various means are being adopted in that direction. Unemployment is growing at faster pace as the job losses have been the hallmark of Neo-liberal economy which has further deepened with demonetization and faulty GST. In contrast to promise of creating two crore jobs

each year, dismal picture of creating only between 1.35 to 1.5 lakh jobs each year of his tenure is fact of the matter. One of his ministers justified lay offs, job losses as help to economic growth. Opposed to all these policies which are not only against the interests of workers-farmers and all the other working people but against the national interest itself, the trade unions have intensified their struggles unitedly. They were jointly organising agitations opposing neo-liberal economic policies for some years now. There was dialogue, some reconsiderations and scope of re-shaping with the previous regimes, but this incumbent NDA government led by Narendra Modi does not believe in any dialogues with unions, does not honour bipartite or tripartite mechanisms, and considers labour laws and trade unions as hindrance in growth and development. His government’s moto “For Ease of Business” is curtailment of workers rights, which is being pursued by changing labour laws and simultaneously bringing fiour codes in place of 44 existing labour laws in practice. The claim is simplification, but the motive is to make it punitive for workforce and its unions and providing liberty of hire and fire to employers with no accountability towards the people who do the value addition and produce wealth, provide services. Through these codification even the existing established social security schemes are under attack. On Page 10 New Age Weekly

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November 26–December 2, 2017

The growing threat of a total wipe out in Gujarat assembly elections has made the BJP leadership really mad. In its bid to control the damage it is making all desperate attempts that ultimately will have very adverse impact on the democratic set up, particularly the parliamentary democracy. In its madness, first it pressurized the Election Commission, a constitutional body to separate the announcement of the election schedules for two assembly polls of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. It was done to provide opportunity to prime minister Narendra Modi to make some announcements to woo the Gujarat electorate who were already in anger against the implementation of demonetisation and GST. The separation of polling schedule has made the HP voters to wait for over a month for counting of votes after polling is completed. This was done in the background of initiating a futile debate that EC could hold elections for Parliament and all assemblies simultaneously! Modi government did not stop at that. It has deliberately delayed the Winter Session of Parliament as it fears that the session will become another platform for exposure of its misdeeds, particularly the corruption cases that have come to light in the past few weeks. People were already questioning the 300 per cent rise in the assets of BJP chief Amit Shah, the exposures about 16,000 times rise in the income of his son Jay within a year has further embarrassed the BJP leadership. Within a year Jay Shah has earned Rs 80 core with investment of just Rs 50,000. Now revelations

Democracy Under Threat about Rafale deal have acquired new dimension. Government has no answer to why it is paying many times more amount for the plains that were contracted for much less amount by the UPA government. BJP leadership is fully cornered on many more such cases. The hallow claims of transparency and “Na Khaunga na Khane Doonga” has got busted. These cases have made it clear that the BJP is in a fix. People have realised that it is as corrupt, rather more corrupt, than its predecessors.

Editorial These have led the Modi-Shah duo to avoid discussions in Parliament. In the past two years it had used the route of finance bill to avoid debate and voting in the upper house of Parliament to impose many controversial decisions. Now it has resorted to curtail the parliamentary sessions itself. Just for an assembly poll, the Winter Session of Parliament has been sabotaged. It may be recalled that for long CPI representatives in both houses of Parliament have been demanding that the duration of the sessions be fixed and must have longer duration. Previous governments too had ignored these demands but the Modi government has surpassed the past mistakes. It not only refuses to increase the duration of the sessions, it uses the weapon of disruption of proceedings to

stall debates on important issues. The three and half years of Modi regime has witnessed more disruption of proceedings by ruling benches than the opposition. It is no more secret that the Narendra Modi from day one has been for replacing the parliamentary democracy with presidential form of government. He will continue to do everything to achieve that goal because that is the safest path to facilitate imposition of a fascistic regime. Gujarat being the home state of prime minister, Narendra Modi has personal stakes. He will go to any length to retain the state for BJP. Already he has announced to hold meetings in almost all the districts in two phases. His followers are using all tricks to hasten communal polarisation with the idea of consolidating the Hindutva votes. Banning Padmavati, a film based on a fictional character has become icon for Hindutva forces. Chief ministers after chief ministers of BJP ruled states are banning the screening of the film. Madhya Pradesh CM is going to include this fiction in the history text books. The announcement of legislation for making triple talaq is also part of this attempt. With the poll nearing many more such contentious issues will be raised. Country cannot keep mum on such blatant violations of democratic norms and distortion of history. It is also part of attack on freedom of expression. These attacks need to be resisted and foiled by all those who cherish our plurality and secular democratic fabrics.

Companions of Murdered Alwar Farmer Arrested JAIPUR: Police on November 20, 2017 arrested two persons who were traveling with dairy farmer Ummar Khan, shot dead allegedly by cow vigilantes in Alwar district on November 10. Tahir Khan and Javed Khan were transporting cows along with Ummar in a pick-up truck when they were attacked. Police have claimed that Tahir and Javed were “cow smugglers” and arrested them, after they surrendered on November 19, under the provisions of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995. The three persons had bought the cows in Dausa district and were transporting them in “doubtful circumstances”, claimed the police. Two of the attackers were arrested last week, with the police stating that they were New Age Weekly

members of a gang of robbers. The dismembered body of Umar, 35, a resident of Ghatmika village in Bharatpur, was found on railway tracks near Govindgarh in Alwar district, with his family alleging that a crowd of cow vigilantes had killed him and thrown his body on railway line. “The Alwar police should have arrested the killers. They want to build pressure on these two to bargain a deal, frighten them and dilute the case. This shows that the state government has given absolute impunity to the killers.” The two were taken to the spot of the alleged shootout for verification and produced in court, which granted one-day custody to the police. Police now says that Ummar had one case against him under

Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, filed in 2012. Tahir had three and Javed had two cases under the same Act. Tahir and Javed were now booked in another case under the same Act, following an alleged shootout with gau rakshaks in which Ummar was killed. Four days after the assault, police said two gau rakshaks arrested in connection with the case had confessed to the assault as well as mutilating Ummar’s body and dumping it on the railway tracks about 15 km away to make it look like an accident. Ramveer Gujjar and Bhagwan Singh, booked under different IPC sections, also alleged that those in the pick-up truck (Ummar, Tahir and Javed) had fired at them. The police have called both sides

“criminals.” Police are still looking for four accomplices of Gujjar and Singh. In Delhi, relatives of Ummar and Tahir said they expect justice from the court and demanded arrest of everyone responsible for Ummar’s death. They were speaking at the Press Club of India during a public meeting against ‘mob lynching and impunity to cow terrorists’ organised by a civil society outfit. Focus on cow protection, especially by

vigilante groups, has risen since the BJP-led government took power three years ago, and several states ruled by the saffron organisation made laws to punish cow slaughter. Socalled cow protectors have targeted cattle and meat traders, transporters and even farmers walking their animals — violence that has killed several people, mostly in BJP-ruled states. Critics accuse the vigilantes of using cows as a pretext to target Muslims and Dalits.

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3

November 26–December 2, 2017

Chalo Assembly in AP a Great Success Ram Narsimha Rao Despite several hurdles created by the Andhra Pradesh state government with the help of police by arresting several leaders and even making house arrests, the ‘Chalo Assembly’ programme was held with great success on November 20, 2017. People from all walks of life in response to the call given by the committee for achieving special status to Andhra Pradesh and implementation of assurances given at the time of bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh have reached Vijayawada in large numbers to participate in the agitation. Participants raised slogans like ‘Special status is right of Andhras’, ‘We want justice’ and the same g o t reverberated throughout Vijayawada city. Though heavy police bandobust was made in

railway stations, bus stations and at all outskirts of the city, people reached Dharna Chowk at Alankar theatre centre. Though both the central and state governments have ignored the issue of special status, people of the state proved through their massive participation that they have not given up their demand for special status. The leaders and cadres did not allow any kind of anti-social incidents to take place and the rally was quite peaceful even though TDP people and police tried their best to disrupt the programme. Police arrested nearly 500 persons and shifted them to various police stations under Vijayawada police commissioner. Among the arrested were CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna, assistant secretary Muppala Nageshwera Rao, former CPI MLC P J Chandrashekara Rao,

AIKS vice-president Ravula Venkaiah, AITUC state general secretary G Obulesu, deputy general secretary Ravindranath, president and general secretary of NFIW state unit Jayalaxmi and Penmethsa Durga Bhavani, AIKS state general secretary K V V Prasad,

Workers, Farmers Launch Mahadharna in Ranchi

Govt Must Meet People’s Demands or Resign Ranchi: On demands of Jal, Jameen, Jangal (water, land and forest), to protect religious freedom bill, to return amendments to Land Acquisition Act and waiving off of farmers’ loan, a Mahadhrna was organised here in front of the Raj Bhawan (governor’s house) by opposition parties and the civil society groups. Later, a memorandum was submitted to the governor on November 13, 2017. Under the banner of Jharkhand Bachao Coordination Committee, all the opposition parties, including Congress, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, Communist Party of India, CPI(M), RJD, Socialist Party, JDU(Sharad faction), Forward Bloc, RSP, and Adivasi social organisations assembled to take part in the agitation. Under the leadership of first chief minister of the Jharkhand state, and president of Jharkhand

Vikas Morcha Babulal Marandi, leader of the Congress and former central minister Subodh Kant Sahay, senior CPI leader and ex MP Bhuwaneshwar Mehta, state president of the RJD, Annapurna Devi, state secretary of the CPI, K D Singh, state secretary of the CPI(M) G K Bakshi, Forward Bloc leader Rameshwar Kushwaha, state president of SP Ranjan Yadav, Congress leader Furkan Ansari, ex MP, Mannan Mallik, Bagun Sambai Mantri, Geetashree Oraon, former minister, coordinator of Adivasi Sangathan Dr Karma Oraon, Premshahi Munda, Raju Mahto, Ajay Tirki, Jhanrkhand Vikas Morcha general secretary and legislator Pradeep Yadav, secretary Bandhu Tirki, Social leader Dayamani Varla, a memorandum was submitted to governor Daraupadi Murmu with nine-point charter of demands.

The demands included taking back of cases registered against those who participated in the agitation opposing the amendments of land and CNT Act and CPT Act, also opposing the amendments to Land Acquisition Act, 2013, to waive off farmers loan, bring back Pathalgaddi tradition, provide adequate price for agrarian products, and bringing down of the prices of seeds and fertilizers. In the meeting, Bhuvaneswar Mehta said in his address that government must withdraw all the cases otherwise there would be ‘Jail Bharo’ agitation. He said that government is keen to acquire farmers’ and Dalits’ lands to hand over to Adani, Ambani and other corporate houses and when there is agitation against such steps, government arrests the On Page 10

CPI(M) state secretary and state secretariat member P Madhu and CH Babu Rao, Aam Aadmi Party state general secretary Pothina Venkata Rama Rao, Loksatta state leader Srinivasa Rao, YSRCP senior leaders K Parthasarthi and Udayabhanu. Participants could trace out the strategies of the police force, adopted counter strategies and marched ahead taking out rallies raising slogans and carrying flags. Police have to face a tough time as their strategies failed to prevent the programme from taking place. There was a tussle between police and cadres of different political parties. Police have dragged them on the road and thrown into police vans. In this process K Ramakrishna got injuries

on his lips, as he has fallen out of the van on the road. A batch of 50 comrades who have come to Vijayawada in order to participate in the rally were also arrested and kept in Singh Nagar police station. Student organisations like AISF, SFI, PDSU and students wing of YSRCP have held separate demonstration half naked. The government was determined not to allow the demonstration at any cost. As the part of the strategy it has deployed police force from Krishna, Guntur, Prakasham districts apart from Vijayawada city. Apart from railway station and bus stations, police was posted in huge numbers at Benz circle, V a m a n a p p a d u , On Page 10

CPI to Field 3 Candidates in Gujarat AHMEDABAD: The state executive of the Communist Party of India has decided to field three candidates for Gujarat assembly elections. CPI candidate, tribal leader Chunnilal Dharubhai Valvi has already filed his nomination for Neeraj assembly constituency in Tapi district. Polling will take place on December 9. Party has asked trade union leader G K Parmer to file nomination from Amraiwadi. Young lawyer Kamlesh Bhavsar will contest from Bapunagar. Both constituencies are in Ahmedabad. Polling will be on December 14. CPI national council secretary Shameem Faizee will be on election tour from December 6-12, 2017. New Age Weekly

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Whether or not the death of an 11-year child because of hunger in Simdega district in Jharkhand has shaken the conscience of those at the helm of affairs is anybody’s guess, but it has definitely reconfirmed the gravity of the situation of hunger in the country. That India has been pushed to the 100th rank in the Global Hunger Index 2017 released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is a cause of grave concern for our country. Our ranking is as low as Rwanda, a country which has been war stricken for several years leading to over a million deaths as a result of civil strife. We rank even below many of our neighbouring countries such as China at 29th rank, Nepal ranked at 72, Myanmar at 77, Sri Lank at 84 and Bangladesh at 88. According to IFPRI, India has “consistently fallen into the upper half of the

Eroding Effect of Poverty, Hunger, Health

India in a Real Predicament serious hunger levels” category in the past few years. This situation needs urgent review because nutrition is directly related to the health status. Hunger index is calculated on the basis of nourishment status, child mortality, child wasting which means acute malnutrition and stunting - which is regarded as chronic malnutrition. Stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median. Since 1972 poverty has

Dr. Arun Mitra been defined on the basis of money required to buy

food worth 2100 calories in urban areas and 2400 calories in rural areas. Poverty is one of the main problems that have attracted attention of sociologists and economists. It indicates a

What the Others Say…

Vote bank politics in the name of Padmavati It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh has announced his government’s decision to ban Padmavati, the controversial Bollywood movie, ahead of its release, and that Rajasthan has said it will do the same unless the Union information and broadcasting ministry does what its chief minister has asked it to. It shouldn’t come as a surprise because both states are headed to the polls next year and have sizeable Rajput populations. The film’s theme has offended the Rajputs, who believe it slights Padmini, the legendary queen of Chittor dating back to the 13th or 14th century. It isn’t clear whether Padmini was a real or mythical figure, but her legend is well known, and also deeply entwined with certain Rajput practices. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, two other North Indian states with sizeable Rajput populations, have also indicated that their sympathies are with those protesting the release of the film. The opposition to Padmavati cuts across party lines. India doesn’t have a free-speech and free-expression law as strong as the US’ First Amendment, but even seen in that context, the behaviour of the chief ministers is not acceptable. Courtesy: The Hindustan Times

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An intolerable toll Figures submitted by the deputy commissioners of eight districts in Jammu and Kashmir to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) have revealed that at least 2,524 people were injured by the use of pellet guns by security forces during the protests that rocked the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July last year. The government’s data, now public, speaks of the enormous costs — social, political and economic — of the New Age Weekly

condition in which a person fails to maintain a living standard adequate for his physical and mental efficiency. Poverty is the

major cause of nutritionrelated health problems. Poverty and malnutrition adversely affect productivity. A balanced diet with all ingredients is needed to

remain healthy. These requirements are met by carbohydrates, protein, fats, minerals and vitamins. All these are essential for our physical and mental growth. Because of lack of supply of these nutrient materials, there occur multiple physical problems like lack of appetite, fatigue, diarrhoea, weakness, slower breathing, numbness of hands and feet, dryness of skin, loss of hair, sub cutaneous haemorrhagic spots etc. The mental changes occur in the form of irritability, lack of concentration, reduced receptive capacity. Malnutrition as a result of hunger may lead to Marasmus and Kwashiorkor. Marasmus occurs more often in young On Page 12

indiscriminate use of pellet guns. By announcing compensation for the victims, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has taken the first step towards addressing and alleviating the grave hurt and damage that injuries, especially the loss of eyesight, has caused to victims. That the data has been made public also shows that the state government is willing to have a conversation on the conduct of the police and Central forces in the state. Now, the governments, both in J&K and the Centre, must go beyond piecemeal efforts and formulate a comprehensive policy for compensation as well as re-examine the use of pellet guns. The state government has confirmed the identity and nature of injuries of about 1,700 victims, including 59 women. These numbers will only rise as more data comes in. So far, compensation has been provided to 22 people, from the discretionary Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The decision to provide government jobs to those who have been blinded, apart from providing economic relief, could be a step towards giving the aggrieved and alienated a stake in the system. Pellet guns were first introduced in the state after the 2010 protests, when 100 people were killed in firing by the security forces. The J&K police and Central forces were to have a non-lethal option to minimise casualties during crowd control. The sheer scale of the casualties last year, however, has put paid to that rationale. It has also become clear since then that the J&K government, as well as the Centre, are willing to re-think the use of pellet guns. In 2014, when she was in the Opposition, Mehbooba Mufti attacked the state government for “continuing with its brute pellet gun policy to render Kashmiri youth without eyesight”. In July 2016, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that the government was looking at non-lethal alternatives to pellet guns. J&K DGP S.P. Vaid told this newspaper last week that “we want them (pellet guns) completely phased out”. Given that the PDP is an allFVy of the BJP in Kashmir, there is no excuse for the state and Union governments not to act on their words. Courtesy: The Indian Express

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Celebrations on October Revolution

‘Let Us March Towards Real Freedom’ On November 10, 2017, Prabodh Panda, state secretary of the West Bengal unit of the Communist Party of India and national executive member of the party addressed a seminar on the theme of “Contemporary Capitalism and Relevance of October Revolution”, organised by Communist Party of Bangladesh in Dhaka on the occasion of 100th Anniversary of great socialist October Revolution. Following is the text: At the very outset I would like to convey to all Comrades of Bangladesh, the Comrades of CPB, the fraternal parties the warmest greetings and solidarity from the Communist Party of India. We are thankful and express profound gratitude to the Communist Party of Bangladesh for inviting us in this important seminar on the occasion of 100th Anniversary of great socialist October Revolution. On this occasion the subject matter or the theme of the seminar as selected “Contemporary Capitalism and Relevance of October Revolution”. We have assembled here just after celebrating the historic day of November 7, the day of the great revolution. We in India are also celebrating in a befitting manner throughout the year. Few days back from October 8 to 10, an international seminar attended by delegates from Communist parties world over took place in Kolkata. The theme of that seminar was “100th anniversary of the great October Socialist Revolution: Past and present experience in building socialism, lessons and strategies of the communists in the contemporary world”. We are extremely thankful to the delegation for their participation and valuable contribution. We are

thankful to the delegation from the Communist Party of Bangladesh for their rich contribution. It is noticed that the toiling people across the globe are celebrating the centenary of that event. The erstwhile Soviet Union disintegrated, but the ideas of great revolution are alive. We can refer the historic comments made by Comrade Lenin himself in discourse of revolution while hailing the event as beginning of a new epoch. We can quote Comrade Ho Chi Minh in this context when he said “Like a bright shining sun, the October Revolution shone all over the countries, waking up million of the oppressed and exploited people on earth. In the history of mankind never has there been a revolution with such a great and profound significance”. Subsequently the outcome of the revolution, the emerging socialist system could mark profound and magnificent achievements in several aspects and shone the real path for a new society, free from exploitation, free from capitalism. But even then the Soviet Union as well as the socialist system in eastern Europe got collapsed. Now we are assembled here after 25 years of that disaster. After the collapse of Soviet Union and the fall of socialist system in Eastern Europe the capitalist thinkers started agitation with the idea of TINA (There is no alternative to capitalism). Capitalism is the final stage of history, the idea of socialism has no relevance so on and so forth. The imperialist forces are getting unrestricted and are moving towards their unipolar design and to transform the globe

according to their sweet will. But whatever is said and done, through the prism of changes that have taken place in the contemporary world the very essence of capitalism has not altered. The basic laws of capitalist economy, production with its incentive, surplus value, profit, competition, unevenness, anarchy in production, injustice in distribution are not altered. Before revolution Comrade Lenin wrote a brilliant Booklet “Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism” and defined the basic character of ‘Finance Capital’. “Thus the

twentieth century marks the turning point from the old capitalism to the new, from the domination of capital to the domination of finance capital”, he said and added, “Domination and Violence that is associated with it, such are the relationship that are typical of the latest phase of capitalist development”. All these formulation that had been formulated 100 years ago are still valid. Rather that has become more aggressive and more powerful. It may be remarked that finance capital is the single player in the world arena. Lenin analysed the basic features of imperialism as i) Concentration of capital and production, which created monopolies ii) Merging bank capital with industrial capital and the creation of finance capital of a financial oligarchy iii)

More importance of capital as distinguished from the export of commodities iv) The formation of international monopolist association and v) The territorial division of the whole world. Eventually taking privilege from the post second war development the US enterprises emerged like giants and ultimately acquired monopoly in several sectors. The United States became the richest nation with 80 percent of the world gold. US dollar became the omnipotent currency. It alone commands 11.5 percent of the votes in IMF and world Bank. USA has become sole super power which is continuing aggression, and loot of the markets and resources of the developing countries, as well as extending its grip over their domestic economy. In the name of so called ‘neo-liberalism the new buzzwords are propounded for structural adjustment programme such as liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation as the new reform policy. There are talks and persuasion in the third world about investment of FDI. Capitalists corporate sector and most of government circles of this third world are closely linked with each other. This is crony capitalism, An economy in which business thrive not as a result of risk taken for them, but rather as a good return on money amassed through a nexus between the business and the capitalist political class. Such experiences we have gathered in our country, where the most reactionary ruling party is following. This is a sort of parasitic capital, which itself is anarchy and leads to structural crisis in domestic, regional and global

economies. The East Asian crisis can be referred in this context. This is also the fact that scientific and technological revolution has immensely accelerated the growth and development of productive forces but it is also the fact that it is becoming the source of disparity, un-employment, poverty and increasing misery. More than 300 years after the capitalist system came into being it is observed that more than 1.3 billion people out of the world population of 6 billion still continue to live in absolute poverty, 800 million people go to bed with hunger and all this at a time when the world’s resources, if production potential and the advancement of science and technology are taken into account that are capable to meet their requirements. According to ILO figures more than 820 million workers are affected by mass chronic unemployment and under employment. On the other hand one-fifth of world’s population consumes 86 percent of the output including 58 percent of its energy. The disparities have become shockingly wide, both within countries and between the countries. The richest 20 percent of the world’s population hold almost 85 percent of the world wealth. The poorest of the developing countries have more than half of world’s population, but only 5.6 percent of the world’s income. The main contradiction within the capitalist system, the contradiction between socialised production and private appropriation is becoming deeper. Capitalism is not only concerned with economies but connected with several issues of social, cultural and On Page 6 New Age Weekly

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Celebrating Hundred Years of October Revolution KOLKATA: ‘Spread The left unity’ was the call from the dais of the celebration of 100 years of the Great November Revolution on November 7 at Esplanade, under the statue of Lenin. The celebrations were all over the staste with proper dignity and honour. Left Parties and mass organizations celebrated this day in every district of the state. ISCUF and the Left Front celebrated this day with speeches, songs and recitations. Left parties out side the left front also assembled there to commemorate the great

revolution. To commemorate the great revolution, Biman Basu , chairman, Left Front, paid floral tribute to the statue of Lenin. Prabodh Panda , state secretary, CPI, Manju Kumar Majumdar, Prabir Deb, Ranajit Guha, Sakhayat Hossian of CPI, Kshiti Goswami of RSP, Naren Chatterji of FB, Partha Ghosh of CPI(ML) Liberation, Mihir Bayen of RCPI, Saibal chatterji of Workers’ Party, Ujjwal Chaudhury, state general secretary of AITUC, Tapas Bhattacharya and Arun Chattaraj of AITUC, Anadi Kumar Sahu of CITU, Tara De , Lina Ghosh

Subodh Datta Ray of Mahila Samity, Kaninika Ghosh of WBDMS, Kalyan Banerji of Kalantar, Subodh Datta, President, BTEA, Sujan Chakrabarty, MLA, Jamir Mollah of DYFI, Madhuja Sen Ray of SFI and many other left leaders paid floral tribute to the statue of Lenin. A short assembly was held under the chairmanship of Biman Basu. He explained the effect and influence of the great November Revolution on our freedom movement. Prabodh Panda said that the whole world is celebrating this day. The representatives of 103 communist parties of different countries assembled in Russia to discuss the relevance of the great November Revolution in today’s world. This revolution not only terminatted the feudal rule in Russia but also it hit upon capitalism and

‘Let Us March towards... From Page 5 political life. For super profits the resources of this earth are being squandered, the forests are being denuded, entire ecosystem is being destroyed, the air, the terrain, rivers, lakes and seas are being polluted. But to be noted that the dominant capitalist powers are not free from inner and inter contradictions. The emergence of “Euro” as a single currency within the European Union is itself a challenge. Unlike the IMF and the World Bank, the WTO has a one country one vote principle. Here the third world countries are in a majority. There is a possibility of getting united against the domination of capitalist super power. The situation of Europe is quite restless, the question of ‘Brexist’ has come up. The New Age Weekly

situation of entire Latin America like boiling. The uni-polar attempt is under great disturbance. The capitalist crisis, the imperialist crisis or the crisis of finance capital in particular is under the threat of deepening crisis since 2007-08. The nature of that crisis is something more critical than the crisis of early 30’s. In such a situation there is a ground swell of peoples movement against the prevailing iniquitous order, aggravated by the prescription of IMF, World Bank, WTO and the ravages wrought by the MNCs. The massive movements of occupy wall street with the slogan of we are ninety nine – you are only one or the slogan like CINA (capitalism Is No Alternative) opposing the idea of TINA (There is no

alternative to capitalism) are attracting and inspiring the fighting people at large. Hence the globalisation – better to say imperialist globalisation are getting unmasked. In this context Karl Marx had already pointed to the basic global direction against the global tendency of world capitalism. The ringing call given for global unity of the working class. “Workers of all countries, unite.” In this context the task before all the Communist, Left and Democratic forces all over the world is to express strong solidarity to the ongoing fight against Imperialism, the global capitalism and the menace of finance capital and crony capitalism, also it is imperative to strengthen and broaden the struggle in the respective countries against the aggressive anti-

imperialism. It was a democratic and socialist revolution. He also said that following the teachings of great November Revolution the leftists can fight against the communialism and autocracy in our country. Kshiti Goswami of RSP, Naren Chatterji of FB and Kartik Pal of CPI(ML) Liberation addressed the gathering. Atikram Das of IPCA sang inaugural song. Earlier ISCUF observerd the day in befitting manner. Bhanudeb Dutta , President, Bandana Bhattacharya, general secretary,ISCUF,Prabodh Panda, Manju Kumar people pro-corporate measures taken by the capitalist rule. In this juncture, even in democratic stage of revolution the working people and their parties should be united to forge the massive struggle and should take the initiative to bring all other democratic forces for broader mass movement. The people’s movement against corporate globalisation is in this juncture is the broadest movement in real sense. The great socialist November Revolution is the profound inspiration for peoples’ fight. The revolution in Russia got collapsed, but the idea, the flame of the occurrence is still alive. Let me quote Rabindra Nath Tagore in this respect regarding November Revolution. “We know very title of the present revolution in Russia and

Majumdar, Prabir Deb, Prandhan Ray, Dipankar Chakrabarty, Tapas Bhattacharya of CPI, Ujjwal Chaudhury, state general secretary, AITUC, Ranajit Guha, president, AITUC, Arun Chattaraj of AITUC, Tara De , Lina Ghosh Ray, Subodh Datta, Prabhat Majumdar of AIKS (BBGanguli Street), Amitabha Chakrabarty, general secretary, IPCA, Kalyan Banerji paid floral tribute to the statue of Lenin. Prabodh Panda, Bhanudeb Dutta, and Bandana Bhattacharya, ISCUF explained the importance of this great revolution. „ with the scanty materials in our hands – we can not be certain, if she in her tribulation is giving expression to man’s indomitable soul against prosperity built upon nihilism – if she fails with the flag of true ideas in her hands, then her future will fade like the morning star only to usher in the sun rise of the new age”. The new age, free from capitalism free from any sort of class exploitation world be emerging in the long run. The people from the stage of their need will be elevated to the kingdom of real freedom. Let us march towards that – “March, March – March and the world will be free”. Long live November Socialist Revolution Long Live Marxism – Leninism Down Down Capitalism Up Up Socialism.„

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Make Naga Framework Agreement Public: CPI The Assam state council of the Communist party of India has demanded that the Naga Framework Agreement should be made public. A meeting of the state council of the party held on November 18 and 19, 2017 in party office at Guwahati presided over by Haren Bora decided to take up three burning issues facing the people of Assam and hold a one-day statewide agitation programme on November 29 at all district and sub-divisional headquarters. The other two demands that will be taken up by the party in its agitation programme are publication of the completed draft national register of citizens within the stipulated period and immediate end to harassment of intellectuals of Assam. As per the direction of the Supreme Court, the draft NRC was to be published within December 31, 2017. But now the Registrar General has appealed for the extension of time of publishing of NRC up to July 31, 2018. The meeting of the party state council apprehends that the extension of time may create problems and hence reiterates its demand to publish it as a complete document within the stipulated period. Expressing grave concern on the news published in different news papers and in electronic media about a meeting held in New Delhi under the banner of ‘Delhi Action Committee for Assam’ and the communal utterances of Jamiat Ulema e-Hind president Moulana Arshad Madani at the meeting, the party state council made it clear it vehemently opposes such utterances and declares that Madani is not representative of the people of Assam, not even of the Muslim community. Also the party feels a comprehensive picture of Assam is not presented at the meeting. Suspecting that this may be a conspiracy of the government of India to implicate intellectuals of the state, the party demands a thorough probe into the incident and an immediate halt to the harassment of the intellectuals of Assam. CPI national council secretary Dr K Narayana

attended the meeting and spoke on the latest political developments in the country. Briefing the press after the meeting Narayana urged President of India Ram Nath Kovind visiting the state to intervene in the Padmavathi film controversy and to use his good office to get the same released. On Moody’s Investors Service report upgrading India’s sovereign rating he said that it is nothing but an effort to boost up the Modi government. The report intentionally avoids to assess the real picture of rural India, crisis-ridden farmers, poverty, suicides of farmers, and danger of nonperforming assets (NPAs). On the developments in Kerala he said that rumours are being spread that that LDF government in Kerala will fall because of the stand taken by CPI. As a matter of fact CPI has taken steps only to save the prestige of LDF government and will continue to take such steps. The BJP government led by Narendra Modi, after coming to power have let loose communal forces who are threatening and attacking even democratic institutions. They are not even sparing judiciary. It is adopting a policy of likes and dislikes, which has resulted in the controversy between Chief Justice of India and Justice Chalameshwer, which is not accidental, but a pre-planned one. A democratic institution like Planning Commission is replaced by NITI Ayog, which is a puppet organisation of Sangh Parivar and brain child of RSS. Replacing renowned and eminent economists like Amarthya Sen, communal elements are deliberately put in educational institutions. Also those who are opposing anti-people policies of the NDA government are being branded as anti- nationals, Naryana pointed out. He further said that Dalits and minorities are being tortured, attacked and even killed by so called cow protectors. While the Modi government proudly boasts of being not hit by scams, the fact is that it refuses to see the other side where BJP leaders are caught in several scams involving thousands of crores of rupees. After coming to power, the NDA

Munin Mahanta government has given concessions worth Rs 13.25 lakh crores to corporate companies. Is it not a fact that NPAs have increased from Rs 2.23 lakh crores in 2015 to Rs 7.2 lakh crores by 2017 March? Is it not wholesale corruption? He also referred to Amit Shah’s son’s business which has increased from just Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crores within a span of one year. Demonetisation in the name of surgical attack on black money has virtually brought several miseries to common man. Whereas corporate sharks and corrupt politicians have benefited by converting black money into white money, the common man is still facing a lot of

troubles. Goods and services tax (GST) has been reduced for corporates from 33 per cent to 28 per cent while the common man is being overburdened by 28 per cent tax. Thanks to elections in Gujarat, certain concessions are being poured, he said. Narayana accused the BJP government of misusing the offices of the governors to manipulate certain parties and form the government though they do not have majority. It is with such manipulative intensions that Modi met Karunanidhi, supremo of the DMK on the same day when the CBI court was hearing spectrum 2G case. Also leaders belonging to other political parties, earlier accused as corrupt by BJP itself are bring admitted into BJP giving a clean chit.

Mukul Roy of Trinamul Congress is now in BJP, an accused in Sarada Chit scam, Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma who was Congress Minister and branded corrupt is now a BJP Minister, Narayana Rane, former chief minister of Maharastra branded as corrupt has now joined BJP. Summing up Narayana said that in this crucial situation CPI feels that a broad left, secular and democratic platform be formed to defeat communal danger. The XXIII Congress of CPI which is going to be held in Kerala from April 24 to 29, 2018 will discuss present political situation and steps to be taken strengthen the organisation and future programme of action. „

CPI Leader Drupad Borgohain Felicitated

S I V A S A G A R : Communist Party of India national executive member and former member of Parliament Drupad Borgohain was given a warm felicitation on November 12, 2017 by social, educational and cultural organizations from across the state at the MC Club Nazira for his distinguished service to the state, especially for the downtrodden people. Noted educationist Nahendra Padun released the felicitation volume and said that Drupad Borgohain would long be remembered by the people as a true communist. Noted socialist Abani Borthakur said that Drupad Borgohain had been playing a pivotal role in state politics. “His

From A Correspondent contributions towards the poor and the burning issues of the state will be remembered,” he said and appealed to the youth to follow the path of the veteran leader. Terming him as an uncompromising communist leader, Phani Chetia said that Drupad Borgohain did his work most sincerely as a communist leader as well as a parliamentarian. He released a book on Drupad Borgohain. Durlov Buragohain released the autobiography of Drupad Borgohain. Debabrat Saikia MLA said that he had been much influenced by the works and teachings of Drupad Borgohain.

Born on November 7, 1941 at Maduri village in Sivasagar district, Borgohain studied at Nazira High School and Sibsagar College, Joysagar. A teacher by profession, he worked at the Maduri Middle Vernacular School during 1960-61. He went on to teach at the Chakimukh Middle English School between October 1961 and January 1963, and then at Nazira Higher Secondary Multi-Purpose School from February 1, 1963 until December 31 1982. He became a CPI party member in April 1963. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha between 1998 and 2004, a former MLA in the Assam assembly and former president of the Assam state council of All India Kishan Sabha.„ New Age Weekly

8

November 26–December 2, 2017

How Modi Violates His Own Rules

PSU Boards Filled with BJP Nominees The decision to nominate BJP workers as non-official directors makes a mockery of the party’s 1998 manifesto and the government’s own guidelines issued in 2015. In an interview to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in mid-2016, prime minister Narendra Modi repeated his favourite maxim, “minimum government, maximum governance.” He specifically went on to state, “in a developing economy, state enterprises do have a role in some sectors. They have to be managed professionally and efficiently. We have given them operational freedom and brought in talent from the private sector as well to facilitate this.” Considering that the NDA government had until that point largely remained inactive when it came to reforming India’s central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), these statements kindled a hope, though belated, among all those who expected the CPSEs to become professional, efficient and functionally autonomous. There was hope that CPSEs could eventually set optimal benchmarks of performance for the private sector and create a competitive environment conducive to economic efficiency. There was also an all-round expectation that Modi would indeed come up with a “surgical strike” at CPSE reform that would, in his own words, “reform, perform and transform” governance. The measures taken by the government since then have belied that hope. It has been business as usual for the CPSEs or even worse. During the first two years of its coming to power, the NDA government went about with a clinical precision, replacing the independent directors of several CPSEs New Age Weekly

and in the process, raising apprehensions about the decision’s underlying motives. One glaring and questionable intervention made by the NDA government was in the case of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which was more or less strong-armed into acquiring a sizeable share of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), a state enterprise that was indicted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for taking a series of dubious investment decisions that drove it into a debt trap. There is no doubt that the acquisition of a stake in GSPC hurt ONGC’s finances and its credibility as a ‘Maharatna’ company. Keshav Dev Malaviya, a political visionary of a rare kind who presided over the Ministry of Natural Resources (later became Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas) founded ONGC as a CPSE in 1956. He was undoubtedly the father of the domestic petroleum industry in the country. He considered ONGC a symbol of selfreliance in hydrocarbon development and a bulwark against foreign oil companies that dominated the sector till they were nationalised during the 1970s. He perceived ONGC as a professional institution par excellence and would never have dreamed of it becoming an institution affected by political patronage and manoeuvring as seems to be the case today. A year after Modi’s prophetic interview with the WSJ, his government took the patently retrograde step of nominating BJP spokespersons and party workers as nonofficial directors of eleven odd CPSEs, many of which are ‘Maharatna’ and ‘Navaratna’ companies, which are expected to have a great deal of functional

E A S Sarma autonomy and be managed by professionals with experience. These include ONGC (Sambit Patra), Engineers India Ltd (Shazia Ilmi), Cotton Corporation of India Ltd (Rajika Kacheria), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (Asifa Khan), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Surama Padhy), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (Tamilisai Sounderarajan), State Trading Corporation (Bharatsinh Prabhatsinh Parmar), Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd (S. Malathi Rani), Andrew Yule & Company Ltd (Sipra Goon), National Handloom Development Corporation Ltd (Shikha Roy) and National Aluminium Company Ltd (K.G. Sinha). No doubt, the credentials of each one of these persons are prima facie unimpeachable. However, the question that begs to be asked is to what extent will they be able to add value to the management of the CPSEs?

Tit for tat One could argue that the government in power is well within its right to nominate any person as a director of a CPSE and there is nothing wrong in nominating a person the government thinks fit to discharge that function. After all, such a practice was also followed occasionally by the previous UPA government and, therefore, there is no reason why the present NDA government should take the high road. To test the efficacy of this argument, one must consider Section 166 of the Companies Act which defines the responsibilities of a director of any company; whether he or she is a “functional”, “independent” or”nonofficial” director. This section expects a director

to “act in good faith in order to promote the objects of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in the best interests of the company, its employees, the shareholders, the community and for the protection of environment”. It also expects that the director will “exercise his duties with due and reasonable care, skill and diligence and shall exercise independent judgment”. Crucially, the director should “not involve in a situation in which he may have a direct or indirect interest that conflicts, or possibly may conflict, with the interest of the company.” This section requires the government to nominate any person who fulfills these criteria. While it no doubt provides a great deal of discretion, such a discretion cannot evidently be arbitrary and injudicious. The discretion so provided in the Companies Act enables the government to nominate persons who have sufficient domain knowledge relevant to the operations of a given CPSE. In its 1998 manifesto, the BJP, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, committed itself to managing the public sector “professionally”, “with least interference by government”. It was then that guidelines were issued to discourage the nomination of political party representatives to CPSE boards. Accordingly, on February 15, 2009, the department of public enterprises (DPE) advised all ministries that “nonofficial directors are to be drawn from the public men (sic), technocrats, management experts and consultants, and professional managers in industry and trade with a high degree of proven ability.” The guidelines on CPSEs issued by the DPE

in August 2015 as well as those issued by the department of personnel and administrative reforms in February, 2017, unanimously stipulate that persons nominated as nonofficial directors of CPSEs should be “professionals of repute having more than 15 years of relevant domain experience in fields relevant to the company’s area of operation”, “persons of eminence with proven track record from industry, business or agriculture or management.” The decision taken now by the government to nominate BJP workers as non-official directors clearly makes a mockery of the BJP’s own manifesto of 1998 cited above and the guidelines issued more recently by the NDA government itself.

What does a director do? The role of a director nominated by the government to be on a CPSE board is somewhat complex. Does he or she safeguard the commercial interests of the CPSE itself or the interests of the government that nominated him or her to represent it? To strike a balance between these two objectives, which sometimes could come in conflict, is not an easy task. Lord Denning, probably the greatest English judge of modern times, famously said, “there is nothing wrong with a director being nominated by a shareholder to represent his interests, so long as the director is left free to exercise his best judgment in the interests of the company which he serves. But if he is put upon terms that he is bound to act in the affairs of the company in accordance with the directions of his patron, it is beyond doubt unlawful.” In the instant case, the BJP worker has apparently two patrons, On Page 9

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Capital Infusion – Banks Need Cure, Not Relief! Public Sector Banks (PSB) are in need of capital infusion. There is no gainsaying about that. The Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) are mounting. Viral Acharya, deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India went to the extent of suggesting re-privatisation of some of the PSBs, which drew sharp reaction from the former governnor of RBI Subba Rao, that some of the banks could die. There was no sarcasm. There was substantial truth in it. There is a proverb in our place. The sheep was caught in the rain and the wolf said “You poor fella, you are getting wet. Do come inside my cave and rest!” It is something like that. When Smt. Indira Gandhi took the bold and radical step of nationalizing the banks, the people of the country and the working class welcomed it and looked

forward to banking transforming into “mass banking” from “class banking”. That has been the story of India’s PSBs in the last 45-46 years since nationalization. It ushered in green revolution, white revolution, growth of small, medium and ancillary industries and put India on the path of economic progress. Together with Insurance, Banking constituted the economic back-bone of the nation and greatly contributed towards its economic selfreliance. Perhaps nowhere else in the world, we could have witnessed such a mammoth success. Before nationalization, the private banks – many of them were fly-by night companies, owned by industrial houses diverted the peoples’ savings in the banks to fill their coffers with huge profits. I still remember an

N. Sundaramurthy interesting incident. Sir C.V. Raman had deposited his Noble prize money in a private bank, in Bangalore and after some time that bank got liquidated due to insolvency and Sir C.V. Raman lost the money. He wryly but jocularly commented, “……. (name of the proprietor of the private Bank) took away my Noble Prize!” Viral Acharya’s recipe amounts to handing over the PSBs to private capitalists – putting the clock backwards! Reverting to the issue of capital infusion, finance minister Arun Jaitly on October 25 announced that Rs 2.11 lakh crore would be infused in PSU Banks over two years, of which Rs 1.35 lakh crore will be through recapitalization bonds. The remaining

PSU Boards are Filled... From Page 8 not one. Should he or she be answerable to the government or to the BJP, a party to which he or she belongs and apparently owes his or her nomination to that party? This introduces a third dimension of complexity that creates a greater scope for conflict of interest. Some of these nominee directors are also active spokespersons for the BJP on television. Would that role not run counter to their role as CPSE directors? Do they have sufficient domain knowledge that enables them to provide meaningful inputs to the management? ONGC’s recent decision to acquire a stake in GSPC is a case in point. A nominee director in compliance with the obligations cast on him or her by Section 166 would have resisted the move of the government to force ONGC to agree to such an acquisition which is neither beneficial to the company nor in the overall public

interest. However, the decision that ONGC should acquire a sizable stake in GSPC is one that is apparently imposed on the company by those whose primary objective was to bail out GSPC and obfuscate its shortcomings. A nominee director on the board of ONGC would have found it difficult to resist the extraneous pressure exerted by those trying to push through the deal at any cost. It is not just the CPSEs which have been at the receiving end of such political interference. There seems to be an attempt to induct party workers into several statutory bodies. For example, it was reported that the present government had tried to appoint a BJP worker as a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and it would have gone ahead with that move but for a PIL filed before the apex court. If Modi is earnest about reforming the CPSEs, he should distance the

government and his party from them, encourage professional management, competition and public accountability. CPSEs have a crucial role to play in nation building for decades to come and any tinkering with their management is likely to hurt the economy. Slogans such as “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” and “Reform, Perform and Transform” are laudable, easy to articulate but difficult to translate into tangible action. Intentions underlying such slogans are more important than the spoken words. Intentions will mean nothing, unless they get translated into genuine action. As the gap between words and deeds widens, the credibility of sloganeering will get eroded, a situation that any prudent leader should be wary about. E.A.S. Sarma is former secretary, Ministry of Power,Government of India.

Courtesy: The Wire „

Rs.76,000 crore would be from the budgetary support. RBI governor Urjit Patel applauded it as a monumental step forward. It was also hailed as a decisive package to restore the health of the Indian banking system. Urjit Patel said, “Economic history has shown us repeatedly that it is only healthy banks that lend to healthy firms and borrowers, creating a virtuous cycle of investment and job creation”. There can be absolutely no two opinions about capital requirements of banks. Therefore any step towards re-capitalisation can be welcome. We will deal with it a little while later and also glance at matters like investment and jobs creation. First, our response to the statement that “…only healthy banks that lend to the healthy firms and borrowers…..” Our PSBs were always healthy. They contributed to creation of wealth, spurred economy, helped in creating jobs and produced profits, inspite of adverse global factors like recession. Because we had a robust and stable banking system, India could withstand the turbulence of global financial crisis. Many leading banks and financial institutions in the West had closed down the shutters. India remained largely unscathed. The former President, Pranab Mukherjeee had repeatedly acknowledged the inherent strength of India’s banking system. But what are ‘healthy firms’ and who are ‘healthy borrowers” – who will determine and on what basis?! Who determine the lending policies? Basically, what is India’s present economic policy? Let there be no ambiguity that it is unbridled capitalist market economy. India, under Narendra Modi, is totally committed to sweeping market reforms. There is attack on public sector and it is getting dismantled. Even sectors like space research, defence, telecom, print and electronic media, judiciary, airways, railways and the

financial sector are being thrown open to international private capital. Who receive the bulk of the bank loans? Who are to be held responsible for the Bank NPAs, which are on the increase year after year? Healthy banks become unhealthy because of the unhealthy policies dictated by the government. One can define what can be a healthy bank. But one will be at a loss to describe a healthy firm or a healthy borrower. Fraudsters cheat the banks, aggregate huge unpaid debts and are allowed scotfree. Thus the observation of the RBI governor needs examination. Has the government taken any step to initiate criminal action against defaulters of bank loans? With so much hype and build-up, Modi government announced demonetization about a year ago. In the final analysis, it did not achieve even one target. It ended up as a unmitigated financial disaster, in which the country suffered a loss of about Rs. 6 lakh crore. And about 7 million jobs were lost. All black money got converted into white money. And the banking system had to overwork. Who except the Narendra Modi government can be blamed?! Could the government bring back black money parked in overseas banks?! All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) has produced enough materials, even published the names of corporate bank loan defaulters. It conducted country-wide campaign for bringing to books the fraudsters. But government remained passive. The investment policies and jobs creation are integral components of the over-all economic policies pursued by the government. The jobs scenario in India, even to put it mildly, is very grim. On Page 12 New Age Weekly

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Chalo Assembly... From Page 3 Prakasham barrage, Kanakadurga Varathi and other entry points to Vijyawada. Vijayawada city was surrounded by 3,000 police people. Political parties, women, youth and students could reach Vijayawada in spite of several hurdles created by the government. Though participants could not reach A m a r a v a t h i , demonstrations were successful in Vijayawada. Even though the government and police force adopted the most repressive methods, they could not stop them from entering Vijayawada. “Struggle for the special status will not be stopped. It will be an illusion to stop such struggles by repressive methods of government and police force. Success of

Chalo assembly is the best manifestation to this,” said CPI state secretary Ramakrishna while addressing the media at Vuyyur police station after his arrest. He also stated that police have created several hurdles and created a terror atmosphere but people have come to Vijayawada in huge numbers. That itself proves that people are for special status and how serious they are on this demand. Though police have arrested thousands two days earlier, many could reach in trains and buses. Even the chief minister could not understand the seriousness of the demand. Rather the chief minister clarified that there is no use of special package and there will not be any kind of compromise in the demand of special

status. The CPI state secretary pointed out that there is an argument in the Centre and among officials of the state government that special status will not be given to any state. But this demand was accepted in Parliament by the then Prime Minister and present vice president also argued in support of special status. Even Chandrababu argued for special status during the time of bifurcation. Hence he should realise that with repressive methods people’s movements cannot be stopped. Chandrababu must now at least put pressure on Centre and ensure that the Centre agrees to implement the issues agreed upon at the time of bifurcation. Otherwise he has to stand

Ignore Workers Demands... From Front Page Is it only an initiative of Modi? No, it is again the core-policy of RSS-BJP. It was during Atal Behari Vajpai government that the terms of reference for second labour commission were laid down to make changes in labour laws for ease of businesss, to facilitate the investments from abroad. The demands of finance capital, multinational corporates and Indian corporates were in the background while fixing terms of reference. Presently Modi government is claiming that they are following the recommendations of 2 nd Labour Commission. It is actually selective implementation to the extent where it serves the policy framework of Modi government, whatever is contrary to their idea in the recommendations is not even touched. The workers have been feeling the heat down below of job losses, cuts in real wages with prices New Age Weekly

souring high, life becoming difficult with every passing day, the unionization becoming tough and union registration itself a difficult tasks. The ruling class knows that the working class being an organized force through its unions is the major resistance in their path, hence aggressive attack on their rights and their unions. Within a span of three years, the central trade unions along with independent federations and associations in various sectors of economy and in the central and state government could consolidate its efforts. Succeeding in breaking ice, within 15 months of Modi rule, successful nationwide strike on September 2, 2015 was organized. The support of common people, even un-unionised workers indicated that people were in the process of learning that they have been made false promises of ‘Achhe Din’. The press reported that 150 million

workers participated. Again on September 2, 2016, bigger nationwide strike action took place with media reporting 180 million work force having participated. Encouraged with that and anguished with continuous attack on workers and employees, with worst 7 th Pay Commission, several of sectoral strikes and agitations have been the hallmark of post September 2 Strike. This period also witnessed another positive development that the trade unions actively came out to the support of peasant agitations in various parts of our country. The unions also extended support to the students and teachers community who are under attack by Modi government for holding their dissenting views, questioning government failure and its motives, demanding more allocation for education and better infrastructure in government run schools/ colleges/universities.

before the people as an accused and will be compelled to pay heavy p r i c e , warned Ramakrishna.

Govt Must Meet ...

Among the others arrested are CPI district secretary Vanaj, city secretary Donepudi Shankar, AIYF state general secretary Lenin Babu, East Godavari party district secretary Thatipaka Madhu, Guntur town unit party secretary Kota Malyadri, Ramarao of New Democracy, Uma Maheshwera Rao state leader CPI(M), Malladhi Vishnu state leader of YSRCP and its leader Vellampalli Srinivas.

agitators, tries to suppress them and resorts to even firing.

The state unit of IPTA gave a boost to the participants by singing melodious songs on necessity of special status to AP, under the leadership of Bhaskera Rao, Sudheer, D Suribabu, K Chinnappa and others. „ The unions were not quiet when the killings of journalists, writers and academics and political leaders were assassinated by communal outfits. The unions condemned mob violence. The unions have decided to make the workers aware of diversionary tactics of the government to drift from their issues and agendas by vitiating environment through non-issues and communal issues while using media specially the electronic media and social media, where huge sums of money has been invested by ruling party. The CTUs again witnessed enthusiasm with which the national convention of workers on August 8 in Talkatora Stadium was participated by leaders of unions from formal and informal sectors where the programme of Relay Mahapadaav (Relay massive dharna) was adopted. The preparations were encouraging and giving confidence to the leaders of Central trade unions. The successful mobilization of workers and employees from all sectors and all states of India

From Page 3

Bhuvaneswar Mahta said that in land agitation, four farmers were shot dead in Barkagaon in Hazaribagh district, in Ramgarh, five, and in Khunti, one was killed. But that was not all. There were hundreds of cases registered against the farmers in all over the state. Legislator from Badkagaon, Nirmala Devi, her husband and former minister Yogendra Saw is in jail, and Pradeep Yadap, another legislator, was kept in jail for five months on false charges. He warned the government that it must withdraw all the cases or face state wide agiation and ‘Jail Bharo’. State secretary K D Singh said that the poor have no food, shelter or clothes to cover themselves, and the conditions in the state keep worsening. We should go for more and intense struggles and take it to remote villages. Among other speakers were Pradeep Yadav, Bandhu Tirki, Dr Karma Oraon, Furkan Ansari, Rameshwar Oraon, Premshahi Munda. Among other prominen t speakers were Babulal Marandi, Annapurna Devi, Subodh Kant Sahay, KD Singh, and many others.„ went beyond the expectations of the CTU leaders. The mood is upbeat and now the unions are entering the next phase of agitation to have Satyagrah nationwide. The sectoral agitations and strike actions will be supported actively. If the government continues to ignore the CTU demands and aggressively follows its retrograde, anti-national policies, the unions decided to explore for country wide indefinite strike. „

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Maharashtra to Ease Closure Norms for Large Factories Too The BJP-led Maharashtra government’s proposed labour reforms on factory closures and sackings go beyond several states, including Rajasthan, says a report (Times of India). If the proposals go through, all the 37,234 factories in the state will have the option of closing down and sacking workers without seeking government permission. Currently, the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 allows factories with fewer than 100 workers to close down and retrench workers without seeking state clearances. The state labour department has proposed that the exemption be extended to factories with less than 300 workers, a reform already in place in states including Rajasthan and Haryana. However, the proposal further suggests that factories with 300 or more workers also be allowed to close down and retrench workers without state clearances if they give 60 days’ notice and 60 days compensation to workers for each year of continuous service. This proposal is significant because 45 per cent of the state’s factory workers—the largest chunk—are employed in factories with 300 or more workers. The state has 1,365 such factories employing 11.37 lakh of its 25.16 lakh factory workers. The proposals say that units with less than 300 workers will need to pay 45 days’ compensation for each year of continuous service. Those with 300 or above workers will have to pay 30 days’ compensation if state permission is sought before closure and 60 days’ compensation if state permission is not sought. Unions say this will seriously undermine workers’ rights. Large companies will now be able to easily exercise the closure option. Currently, after seeking government permission for closures, there are negotiations with workers to ensure that the compensation is paid. Factories with less than 100 workers which currently do not need state permission for closures account for 31.6 per cent of the workforce. Factories with between 100 and 300 workers, which the state also wants to add to the exempted list, account for 23 per cent of factory workers. The proposals also suggest a three-year ceiling on raising industrial disputes. Currently, there is no time bar on the raising of disputes by workers. At this point, proposed amendments have been endorsed by a cabinet sub-committee. They will have to be cleared by the state cabinet and then by the state legislature. Since it is a central law, reform will also need the approval of the President.

Over 200 Govt Websites Made Aadhaar Details Public: UIDAI Personal details of several Aadhaar users were made public on over 200 central and state government websites till now, PTI reported on November 19, 2017, citing a Right to Information response by the authority that

issues the biometric identification. The data was removed from those websites after the breach was noticed, the Unique Identification Authority of India said in the RTI reply. However, the time frame of the data breach was not clear. Though the UIDAI has never made such details public, 210 government websites, including those of educational institutes, were found to have displayed “the list of beneficiaries along with their name, address, other details and Aadhaar numbers for information of general public”, the authority said. “UIDAI has a well-designed, multi-layer robust security system in place and the same is being constantly upgraded to maintain highest level of data security and integrity,” the RTI reply said.

Hit by GST, Exports Fall 1.2 per cent in Oct Sharp fall in export of items such as readymade garments, gems and jewellery and leather products has resulted in a 1.2 per cent decline (year-on-year) in exports of goods in October to 23.09 billion dollars.

Exporters have blamed the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that has “squeezed’’ the working capital for exporters for the decline. This brings to an end a 13month run of continuous increase in exports. Imports, on the other hand, increased 7.6 per cent during the month to 37.11 billion dollars (Rs 2,41,562.31 crore) with coal, project goods, machinery and chemicals posting an increase. Import of gold and transport equipment, however, registered a decline. Trade deficit in October widened to 14 billion dollars compared to a deficit of 11.13 billion dollars in October 2016. “The fall in exports was expected as exporters, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises, were facing liquidity problem to pay GST for four months in a row without getting any refund,” said Ganesh Kumar Gupta, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations. Gupta said that it was worrisome that labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, garments, handicrafts and leather products were the worst affected and the government needs to take remedial measures to prevent a further decline. While engineering goods, one of the top exports from India, continued to increase, there was a slowdown in pace. “The setback can be traced to disruptions due to roll out of the GST that resulted in squeezing of working capital for exporters. There is no other plausible reason for the exports to fall in the midst of recovery in the global markets which was so evident in the

previous months,” said T S Bhasin, chairman, Engineering Exports Promotion Council.

Tirupur’s Rs 42,000 Cr Textile Hub Fears a Wipeout Before November 8, 2016, says K S Ramdas, 48, the small stitching unit he has run next to the Old Bus Stand near Tirupur town for 20 years employed around 15 women workers and made an average of Rs 20,000-25,000 every week. Now, he and his wife, the only remaining workers at the unit, struggle to make Rs 2,000 in two weeks. He is not afraid to tell the authorities he can’t pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the raw material he uses, Ramdas says. “There is nothing left after stitching, transportation, buying other materials and paying our loans.” Ramdas’s story is an illustrative snapshot of the Rs 42,000-crore Tirupur textile industry, sustained by 8,500 small scale, medium and large firms, after the note ban, says Raja Shanmugham, president of the Tirupur Exporters’ Association. There were 1,500-odd units such as Ramdas’s near the Tirupur Old Bus Stand, working as ancillary units for larger merchants and traders, before the note ban. M Thangavel, an activist who has been working for weavers and garment workers for a decade, says fewer than 500 are still doing regular business; others are either shut or have been waiting for an order for several months now. Among the women workers Ramdas has laid off are his neighbours with children, who can’t travel too far for work. “Now big players badly affected by the demonetisation have stopped outsourcing (cloth) bundles for stitching works,” he says. Senthil Kumar says he has a mechanical engineering degree, but decided to try his hand at running a similar unit, in Avinashi near Tirupur, with his father’s retirement benefits. Then came demonetisation. Unable to pay wages, he shut his unit for three months. “Orders were delayed. Then workers refused to work without wages, but there was no currency to pay them,” Kumar says. But in April 2017, when he tried to open the unit again, he realised that larger factories that outsourced to him had been affected, too. “Bundles stopped coming for stitching. Earlier I had 10 workers. Now I have only four workers. I try to pay them from my pocket even if there is no work, as their condition is worse than mine, and they were with me all along,” he says. “I lost around Rs 6 lakh. Now it’s almost certain that I am not going to get that cash back,” Kumar says. Shanmugham says 70 per cent of Tirupur industries belong to the micro- and smallscale category, and have not been able to bear the double blow of demonetisation and GST. No fewer than six lakh workers and their families are affected, he says. New Age Weekly

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Inflation Will Rise Further, says RBI Retail inflation, which has gone up by more than 200 basis points since June, is expected to rise further in the remaining part of the financial year, M D Patra, executive director, Reserve Bank of India, said in an October 27, 2017 speech, the details of which were put out by the central bank on November 20. “In the MPC’s [monetary policy committee] assessment, inflation will likely rise from current levels in the rest of the year, with farm loan waivers and the implementation of pay and allowance revisions by states a la the Centre, posing upside risks,” Patra said in his speech on the first anniversary of formation of the monetary policy committee. Consumer price based inflation accelerated to 3.58 per cent in October, its fastest pace in seven months. The October monetary policy of the RBI marks the first year of the monetary policy committee from October 2016, when a sixmember committee began deciding on interest rates — a departure from the earlier practice of the RBI governor taking the final call.

Capital Infusion ... From Page 9 Let us look at the following table which gives gross operating profit of the banks, provisions made for bad loans and the resultant net profit or loss: Rs. in crore 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Gross operating profit 1,27,653 1,37,760 1,36,275 1,58,982 Provisions for bad loans etc.90,633 1,00,901 1,53,967 1,70,370 Net Profit/Loss (-) (-) after provisions 37,019 37,540 18,417 11,388 Let us look at the Bad Loans written off in 5 years: 2012-13 ….. Rs.27,231 crore 2013-14 ….. Rs.34,409 crore 2014-15 ….. Rs.49,018 crore 2015-16 ….. Rs.57,586 crore 2016-17 ….. Rs.81,683 crore TOTAL ….. Rs.2,49,927 crore Banks evidently produced profits. But they were put under strain and also considerable financial loss because of provisions made for bad loans and also loans written off. Writingoff bad loans and making provisions for bad loans deplete or offset the profits of the banks and prevent internal generation of capital. The amount of Rs.2,49,927 crore, the amount of bad loans written off in the last five years, could have been well used to expand the capital base of the banks. Instead the Government is now attempting to perform a three ring circus to raise Rs.2.11 lakh crore for capital infusion; one, by budgetary support and second, by New Age Weekly

“The monetary policy statement of October 2017 was framed in quite a dramatic setting,” Patra said. “Even as growth broadened globally, it slowed to below six per cent for the second quarter in a row in India in April-June. At this rate, India was still among the fastest-growing large economies of the world, but the blow from the growth print was significant enough to set off a chorus of alarm,” he said. The MPC had decided to hold the repo rate at six per cent while maintaining the neutral stance. Patra said the committee regarded the first estimates of kharif production (lower than last year’s level and this year’s target) and the GST roll-out as early, but transitory, setbacks. He said it believed that agricultural activity would improve hereon and termed business optimism expressed by firms on prospects for the October-December quarter as reassuring. “Relative to its August assessment, the MPC lowered its growth forecast by 60 basis points which, in a rough and ready sense, measures the net lagged impact of shocks such as demonetisation and the GST,” he added. floating recapitalization bonds. This is nothing but bailing out the willful corporate defaulters at the expense of the savings of the common people of India. The banks, on an average, are deprived of an annual interest income of about Rs.1,50,000 crore. To that extend, the banks’ profits are depressed. Willful Defaults (Defaulters) March 2013

:

Rs.25,410 crore

March 2014

:

Rs.39,508 crore

March 2015

:

Rs.59,799 crore

March 2016

:

Rs.74,695 crore

March 2017

:

Rs.1,09,594 crore

There is steady rise in willful defaulters. If the account-wise details of write-offs are carefully and closely scrutinized, it will reveal that it is in favour of big corporate borrowers. All of them have the capacity to repay the loans. Hence AIBEA has demanded that corporate NPAs should be recovered and not written off. Modi government wants to infuse Rs.2.11 lakh crore for re-capitalisation of PSBs. This is planned to be raised in two ways: a] By way of Budget support of Rs.76,000 crore. This is the tax paid by the people of India. b] By floating re-capitalisation bonds, to the extent of Rs.1.35 lakh crore. This is expected to be realized by directing financial institutions like LIC to subscribe to the bonds. LIC’s money is the savings of millions of it’s policy holders who pay the premium. Thus what we see is, the willful defaulters of bank loans are big industrialists who are allowed to escape because they enjoy political patronage and the burden is sought to be shifted on to the shoulders of the common people.

India in a Real... From Page 4 children and babies. It leads to dehydration and weight loss. Starvation is a form of this disorder. The symptoms of Marasmus include weight loss, dehydration, chronic diarrhea and shrinkage of stomach. Kwashiorkor occurs in people who have severe protein deficiency. Having a diet of mainly carbohydrates and deficiency in protein lead to this condition. Common symptoms of Kwashiorkor include oedema or puffy or swollen appearance due to fluid retention, bulging of the abdomen and inability to gain weight. The protein and fat requirements are 48 gms and 28 gms per capita per day, respectively, in rural areas; and 50 gms and 26 gms per capita per day in urban areas. Poverty line set by the government denotes a monthly per capita consumption expenditure of Rs.972 in rural areas and Rs.1,407 in urban areas in 2011-12. For a family of five, this translates into a monthly consumption expenditure of Rs.4,860 in rural areas and Rs.7,035 in urban areas. With increase in the cost of living, the BPL definition of the government that a person earning Rs.32 per day in rural and Rs.47 per day in urban areas is not at all realistic. This is not even sustenance wage because to lead a life one needs not only food, there are other requirements as well. „

Is the axe going to fall on the common man? That the banks are starving for capital and are in need of additional capital is understood. Giving them additional capital, as is being planned now, can only be an immediate short term solution. The real long term solution is the recovery of bad loans. Government has chosen the soft option of giving additional capital to the banks only to avoid taking action on the corporate defaulters. The efficacy of the banks cannot be a matter of political gambling – a la carte Shakuni style, to the advantage of the capitalist class. Rating agency Fitch has estimated that the Indian banks would require around 65 billion US Dollars of additional capital to fully meet new Basel III capital standards that will be implemented by and of March 2019. In Indian currency, it is Rs.4.23 lakh crore. Fitch further says, the largest share (of the additional capital) will go to stronger banks, while smaller, struggling banks could be swept into the Government’s consolidation agenda. The profits earned by the banks are nullified by the provisions made for bad loans. The capital gets eroded and the Capital Adequacy Ratio is adversely impacted. The reserve requirements of the banks will have to comply with the Basel III norms by March 2019. PSBs are in danger of being caught in a trap. That shall not happen. Nor shall the axe fall on the common man. „

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Massive Anti-Imperialist Demonstration in Greece In 17th of November events took place all over Greece in honour of the 44th anniversary of the uprising of the students of the Polytechnic University of Athens, who had the support of the working youth of Athens. It was the peak moment of the struggle against the US - NATO backed military dictatorship. The uprising was violently suppressed by the military junta, but this also marked the beginning of its end. In Athens a big march to the US Embassy took place. “Against the government’s agreements with the US. No involvementparticipation in imperialist plans and interventions” was written on the banner of the Party Organization of Attica of KKE, which along with the organizations of KNE filled with red flags the streets of Athens. With the massive, dynamic and organized participation in the demonstration, the working class, the popular strata and the youth sent a clear anti-imperialist message against the agreements between Tsipras and Trump and against the country’s involvement in the imperialist plans and its transformation into a NATO’s bridgehead. Young soldiers also participated in the demonstration and the slogan “The soldiers are people’s children, they have no job outside the country’s borders” echoed to the entire demonstration. A large delegation of the CC of the KKE participated in the march, headed by the GS of the CC, Dimitris Koutsoumpas who made the following statement to the media: “The messages of the Polytechnic Uprising are particularly timely today, after the agreement between Trump and Tsipras in the US, which expands the American bases of death in our country, which also increases military spending for the needs of NATO and not for the defense of our country. And even more after the signing of the disgraceful agreement of 2.4 billion dollars that the government SYRIZA-ANEL will provide the American military industry, in order to carry out interventions against the peoples for their own interests, at the same time that the Greek people suffer from the memoranda, the anti-people measures, their income is constantly decreased. All of them must get their answer.” Demonstrations and other events took place in all the cities of Greece, and in Thessalonica the demonstration ended up to the US Consulate.

US sanctions targeting North Korean, Chinese companies Washington has sanctioned several Chinese entities in its ongoing efforts to compel North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. The US also accused North Korea of engaging in illegal ship-to-ship oil transfers on the high seas. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) unveiled the latest round of sanctions against China and North Korea Tuesday. Notable targets include Chinese businessmen and firms that export to Pyongyang, North Korean shipping

companies and organizations that facilitate the movement of North Korean workers. “As North Korea continues to threaten international peace and security, we are steadfast in our determination to maximize economic pressure to isolate it from outside sources of trade and revenue while exposing its evasive tactics,” Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement. ”These designations include companies that have engaged in trade with North Korea cumulatively worth hundreds of millions of dollars. We are also sanctioning the shipping and transportation companies, and their vessels, that facilitate North Korea’s trade and its deceptive maneuvers.” The Chinese firms targeted by the US’ latest punitive measures include Dandong Kehua Economy & Trade Co. Ltd., Dandong Xianghe Trading Co. Ltd. and Dandong Hongda Trade Co. Ltd. “These three companies cumulatively exported approximately $650 million worth of goods to North Korea and cumulatively imported more than $100 million worth of goods from North Korea,” the OFAC said.

The US also sanctioned Chinese businessman Sun Sidong and his company, Dandong Dongyuan Industrial Co. Ltd, alleging that they exported ”$28 million worth of goods to North Korea over several years, including motor vehicles, electrical machinery, radio navigational items, aluminum, iron, pipes, and items associated with nuclear reactors.” OFAC claims that ”Dongyuan has also been associated with front companies for weapons of mass destruction-related North Korean organizations.” The Maritime Administration of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Ministry of Land and Maritime Transportation and six shipping companies also found themselves in Washington’s crosshairs. The Treasury accused Pyongyang of engaging in ”deceptive shipping practices” and included a photo of cargo ships involved in ship-to-ship transfers, ”possibly of oil, in an effort to evade sanctions.” Rounding off Tuesday’s sanctions announcement was the Korea South-South Cooperation Corporation which has sent North Korean guest workers to China, Russia, Cambodia, and Poland.

Argentina: Anti-worker proposals of right-wing government exposed The Communist Party of Argentina accuses the right-wing government of President Mauricio Macri of carrying out a “campaign of fear” against that country’s working class, with proposed retrograde “reform” policies covering labor rights, retirement, taxes, health

care and education, as well as “chronic” tax increases. Although the government says that fears are exaggerated. But the package of bills which Macri’s government is going to send to Congress show that the fears are based on reality, and represent the offensive of capital against labor. The Party says that if these laws are passed, it will “dynamite” existing labor relations rights that were gained by workers over years of hard struggle. The proposed laws would make it easier for companies to fire workers, as well as allowing employers to unilaterally make changes in work schedules, among other things.

China and Vietnam meet for security coordination The newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam (Dang Cong San Viet Nam) reports that on November 4th, there took place the third of a series of security meetings between Vietnam and the People’s Republic of China. The meeting was chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Public Security Bu Van Nam and Chinese Minister of State Security Tang Chao. Deputy Minister Nam expressed the view that the meeting had been extremely positive in terms of developing security cooperation between the two countries. The corporate controlled press in the West has not reported this series of meetings, but has focused on disagreements between the two countries.

Nepal’s communist parties to merge ahead of elections Nepal’s two main communist parties have agreed to merge ahead of elections later this year. The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) and the CPNMaoist Centre signed a pact in Kathmandu on October 3, along with the much smaller New Force Party. They agreed to jointly contest two-stage elections to the new House of Representatives on November 26 and December 7, and announce their unification after that. The three parties named an eight-member unification co-ordination committee, which includes CPN-UML president KP Oli, Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal—better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda—and New Force leader Baburam Bhattarai. Oli said a truly unified communist party was a “historic necessity solely in the interest of Nepal and its people.” He invited smaller communist factions to join, saying the new party was open to all. The new alliance hopes to win a landslide two-thirds majority in the 275-member lower house, overtaking the Nepali Congress party currently governing in coalition with the Maoists. Prachanda reassured Congress over the alliance’s intentions. “This is not targeted at any force and the alliance is for the well-being of the people and the nation,” he said. New Age Weekly

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November 26–December 2, 2017

Modi Govt Fails... From Last Page is social stigma too as they get continually impoverished and live in pathetic conditions that are not as rosy as portrayed by the government in BJP ruled states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. The Swaminathan Committee had recommended some measures that the central government needs to implement if they are serious about offering succor to the suffering farmers. However, after 12 years since the recommendations were tabled, nothing has been done. Thousands of farmers protested for the second consecutive day to get their demands implemented. The farmers’ yatra comprised of Left and Right both, added with broad participation from the Centerists. It is the culmination of many flags of different colours comprising mostly women, dalits and minorities. Many of them said that even for small loans they borrowed, the compound interest have multiplied many folds. Despite six month insurance policy, they are not assured of their

New Age Weekly

money. It is just a drop in the ocean of woes. The farmers, who had trooped in from 21 states, said they were in financial distress due to pending loans, fall in prices of agriculture produce and extreme drought-like situation, affecting mostly southern parts of the country. Atul Kumar Anjaan, the general secretary, AIKS, Social activist Medha Patkar, Lok Sabha member and farmer leader Raju Shetty, and agriculture activist Kavitha Kuruganti were among those holding the government responsible for the “poor” condition of Indian farmers. They said farmers were not getting remunerative prices for their crops — even though the government had announced Minimum Support Price (MSP) — due to the Centre’s “antifarmer” policies. The AIKS Co-ordination Committee (AIKSCC) had organised ‘Kisan Mukti Sansad’ or mock Parliament session to present two bills on crop loan waiver and remunerative prices for farm produce. According to AIKSCC, prime minister Narendra Modi had promised

50 percent profit margin during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaigning, which he never remembered again. It said the government had failed to address issues such as rising prices of pesticides, fertilisers, and fuel. The farmers highlighted the government’s utter apathy towards the woes of farmers. These ‘bills’ were passed and will be sent to Narendra Modi as the government has “failed” to draft such Bills aiming at providing relief and support to farmers. These farmers, tired of struggling to survive for years together, buried under financial debt and desperate for help, united from across states under the banner of All India Kisan Sangharsh Committee. Various state governments had announced with much fanfare that they would waive off the loans but nothing has been done about it – some excuse or the other has always cropped up. The so-called measures were never addressed and never reached the rural and village people. The farmers criticised the NDA government for “failing” to fulfill its promises and warned of repercussions

during the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Thousands of farmers in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and many other states had committed suicide as the government had no concern for them. There are leaders who make tall claims but do nothing. The current system is not beneficial to farmers. Among the women farmers were about 50 widows from Maharashtra, who said their husbands had to take their own lives owing to crop failure and government apathy in giving any kind of support. There will be no food on the table – as you sit down to dinner right now with your children, the food on their plates were grown by farmers who are killing themselves because they are in distress. Atul Kumar Anjaan, AIKS general secretary said, “The BJP governments at the centre and the states are giving mere slogans and slogan mongering. They are not committed to farmers’ cause. Parliament has failed to discuss burning issues of farmers.” He further added that the ‘kisan mukti yatra’ has drafted two bills demanding waiver of loans and increasing the MSP by one-and-half times more. The AIKS leader said that the kisans will go to their respective states place them

before the rural masses and educate them about the bills and then they would be sent to the Lok Sabha speaker and the President of India with a request to further send the bills to the government which has become non-functioning on the issues concerning the farmers. While summing up, Atul Kumar Anjan said in his address that corporates are looking towards corporatization of farming looking at the need for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc. He said that the narrative propagated by the government and few economists about less production due to small and medium farm size is totally false. 54 percent of wheat production and 57 percent rice are being produced from these small and medium farms only. The kisans have further pledged to be united at the critical times, not to be swayed away with casteist, communal and religious conservatism. The kisans will also be fighting to protect the dalits, adivasis and minority sections from the Hindutva elements. They have also pledged to fight the neoliberal forces harming the secular fabric of the country and completely shattering the Indian economy. They also promised to return to Parliament to fight for MSP. „

15

November 26–December 2, 2017

CPI Greetings to 14th Congress of CP of Brazil On behalf of the Communist Party of India, Binoy Viswam, member of the national executive, conveyed revolutionary greetings to the 14 th congress of the Communist Party of Brazil. Following is the text:

market has become the place of worship and profit, the God! Capitalism of the 21st century has adopted profit mongering as their religion. Such a social system is destined to fail since there are inevitable internal contradictions.

At this proud moment of the 14th congress, I bring to you revolutionary greetings from the Communist Party of India. We know that this is an occasion for the communists of Brazil to have a re-look at the developments since your last congress held in November, 2013. It has been a period when the country witnessed tremendous changes both in Brazil and the world over. Generally speaking it was a rightward shift of events. Forces of international capital are jubilant about this. In Latin America, Asia and Europe, they celebrate the victory of market fundamentalism which is nick named as neoliberalism. In their frenzy they forget to see that this is only a temporary phenomenon. For them,

We, communists are historically optimistic about the future of mankind. That optimism was proclaimed by Communist Manifesto in 1848. The economic and philosophical reasons for our optimism were emphatically explained by Karl Marx in his volumes of Das Kapital (The Capital), written 150 years ago. In 1917 the world witnessed the triumph of Great October Socialist Revolution that has translated the dreams of a new world into reality. It is therefore, .relevant to mention here that the Brazilian Communists hold their 14th Congress in the background of the 150th anniversary of Das Kapital and centenary year of Great October. It urges us to examine our success and failure based on the

On Record... Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai, who was speaking at a function organised by the Vaishya and Kanu (OBC) communities in Patna, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s achievements should be a matter of pride for everybody. He further warned that any “finger or hand” raised against Modi would be broken or chopped off. Rai, who is a Lok Sabha member of parliament from Ujiyarpur, spoke of Modi’s humble background and his journey of becoming prime minister. He said that everyone should be proud and respect him for this. Rai said, “… Unki or uthne waali ungali ko, uthne waale haath ko…hum sub milke…ya to tod dein, zaroorat pari to kaat dein (Any finger or hand raised against the PM, we should get together to either break it or, if need be, chop it off).” – The Indian Express, November 22. *** After deciding to revoke the legal tender of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in November last year, the Narendra Modi -led central government might now be working on another disruptive step to boost digital transactions — banning the cheque book. A senior functionary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on November 16 said the Centre might withdraw the bank cheque book facility in the “near future” to encourage digital transactions. CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal

philosophy of Marxism and the experience of the October Revolution. The communists and other left forces in India keep a sort of emotional affinity to Latin America and Carrebian developments ever since the victory of Cuban Revolution under the leadership of Fidel and Che. At a crucial period of time when the forces of right reaction were preaching the ‘end of history’ this part of the globe emerged in world arena with a promise that another world is possible. Countries one after another shared the understanding proclaiming allegiance to an alternative path of development .Brazil was one important contingent in that anti-imperialist advancement of the people of Latin America. The forces of Left all over the world were keenly watching the happenings in the region. These experiences and the lessons drawn from it are vital not only for you but also for people like us from distant

lands. Your party has to its credit wide range of practical and theoretical experiences accumulated through thick and thin of various forms of struggle since 1922. And we believe that with this treasure of knowledge, the Communist Party of Brazil would be able to lead the masses during the days of crisis. We have noticed with appreciation your party’s position on matters of environmental protection, gender issues, rights of women and youth and questions of national unity. With great interest the Communist Party of India follows your party’s efforts to build up a broad platform of left, democratic and patriotic forces. Communist Party of Brazil is clear in its understanding that this broad dispensation of progressive patriotic forces that would be able to prevent the onslaughts from the present rightist government which is the child of an illegitimate coupde-tat.

said the government needed to encourage the use of debit and credit cards. “In all probability, the Centre may withdraw the cheque book facility in the near future to encourage digital transactions,” he said. – Business Standard, November 21. ***

There will be no multi-level parking near the Taj Mahal for now, the Supreme Court said, refusing to allow the Uttar Pradesh government to continue the construction of one near the iconic 15th Century monument. The restriction on vehicle movement in the 500 metre radius of the monument should continue, the court said. “You can’t get Taj again if it is destroyed,” the court told the Uttar Pradesh government. “As it is, pollution in Agra is very high. We don’t want you to have any ad hoc measures. Have a long-term perspective to protect the monument. You don’t have a vision document for protection

This political strategy worked out by your party has great relevance as far as the CPl is concerned. We in India are striving hard to realise the broadest possible platform of all secular democratic left forces in our fight against the communal - fascist government controlled by fascist ideology and interests of finance capital. In fact, our political understanding about the situation in both Brazil and India go hand in hand. We know that to fulfill this task, we need to go a long distance, but the task can no more be ignored or postponed for tomorrow. With true spirit of p r o l e t a r i a n internationalism we underline the commonness of our struggle. With utmost respect, love and fraternal feeling I salute your congress and wish the proceedings all success. Brasilia November, 2017

of Taj. That’s the whole problem.” The top court will decide on the parking lot once it gets a report from the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) authorities. – ndtv.com, November 21. *** The famous saying that nothing is permanent in politics appears to be true for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat. It’s difficult to imagine that the BJP would find itself in an uncomfortable position in the state it has ruled for two decades. Forget about winning the elections in its bastion, the saffron party is finding it difficult to even campaign in many constituencies. BJP leaders and cadres are being driven out when they go to residential societies for door-todoor campaigns. Some societies have even put banners at their main entrances cautioning BJP workers not to enter the premises as Section 144 (of CrPc) has been unofficially imposed for them. If the saffron party workers enter the society, their handbills are torn and slogans are shouted against them. *** Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused the government of trying to delay the winter session of Pariament to evade questions regarding corruption and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation. – The Hindu, November 22.

— Compiled by C Adhikesavan New Age Weekly

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New Age, November 26–December 2, 2017

Delhi Postal Regd. No.DL(C)-01/1274/2015-17 November 26–December 2, 2017 Licenced to Post without Pre-payment No.U-(C)-47/2015-2017 (R.N.I.No.539/57) Posted in NDPSO, Friday & Saturday Date of Publication: 24/11/2017

Kisan Mukti Sansad in Delhi

Modi Govt Fails to Keep Poll Promises

NEW DELHI: Thousands of farmers – small, medium and poor farmers, gathered at the Parliament Street in the national capital on November 20, 2017. Banners and flags of different organisations were waved, but what brought them together was a common demand — a one-time complete waiver of farmer loans, fair prices for their produce maximising it almost one-

and-half times more as promised by Narendra Modi during elections and implementing the Swaminathan Commission recommendations. Recently the All India Kisan Sabha staged a ‘mahadharna’ for five days here. Thousands of farmers took part in that agitation demanding pensions to farmers and rural workers and remunerative prices for their produce and i m p l e m e n t i n g

By C. Adhikesavan Swaminathan Commission recommendations. Now, in the name of ‘kisan mukti sansad’ under a common umbrella of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) around 184 farmer groups and organisations from across states such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya

Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana and neighbouring states of Delhi participated in the protest walk. The farmers have decided to celebrate January 26, 2018 as ‘kisan mukti diwas’. Every year the farmers’ produce get destroyed either due to natural calamities such as severe drought or untimely heavy

rains. If at all they overcome these difficulties and get their produce, they get nothing for their hard labour and sweat. Farmers do not get fair prices for their produces. The input cost has tremendously increased. The marriages of their daughters are postponed indefinitely. Farmers are committing suicides because they are not able to pay back the loans. There On Page 14

Revolt in UP BJP on the Eve of Civic Polls RSS monitored Adityanath regime in Uttar Pradesh is facing music from within the party on the eve of the municipal elections, as the graph of the party is going down due to the whimsical mental set-up of the chief minister. Painting the state ‘bhagwa’ has led wide spread resentment not only among the people, but also among the BJP leaders who are in revolt. They are upset over the non-fulfillment of the promises made to the electorate on the eve of assembly elections. Majority of the Hindus are not inclined to the RSS brand of Hindutva and voted for vikas promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Yogi regime miserably failed to implement any of the promises made. There is wide spread anger as unemployment is rising, traders are in great agony due to the faulty implementation of the GST, factories have been shut, handicraft business which employed hundreds of families have no takers and are on the verge of total collapse. Youngsters have no work and the crime rate in the state is going up despite the heavy hand of the police, which is completely run by the BJP MLAs or the so-called fringe of the party. Life has become very hard for the minorities,

S K Mittal which are the back-bone of the work force. There is a new slogan raised by the trade circles, which financed the BJP in the elections: “We financed the party to win, now we will work for its defeat in the coming civic elections.” Sensing the mood of the electorate, even a BJP MP from eastern UP has threatened to quit the the party to quit if his men are not given tickets for the civic polls. This is the area which Yogi claims as his pocket borough. This is not a solitary case, many elected representatives are in open defiance. They are mostly from the non-RSS background and think that the party’s hold is weakening. The party is worried about the growing resentment. Yogi has no solution and therefore is talking of Ram Rajya to hoodwink the people. What is RAM RAJYA- He has not spelt what Ram Rajya is. Perhaps he himself does not know. It is merely a mythological concept and if it is real, then it is the welfare state as prevalent in many western countries. In Germany, the state

sends a cheque for every new born, the unemployed are given allowance and so on. How the poorest state UP will meet the concept of Ram Rajya. It is a mystery only known to Yogi or a mere slogan to cheat the people of the state. Yogi with no background of administration is utilizing all his energies for the development of religious akhadas. Earlier UP chief ministers wasted public money on statues and smaraks. They lost the throne and are now in wilderness. The same fate awaits the present chief minister, who in his craze is painting the UP capital ‘bhagwa’. Even the colour of public transport is changed by the Hindutava brigade. Public money is being wasted on the whims of one individual. Meanwhile, the Satta Bazar is giving 80 seats to the BJP in Gujarat — a downhill journey from 115. Crores of rupees are invested in this game of gambling by the people and they are so accurate in their assessment that the results will defy the surveys of the electronic media, which has become a favourite of the rulers in propagating misinformation.

Printed & Published by Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy on behalf of the Communist Party of India at BFL Infotech Ltd (Media Division), C-9, Sector-3, Noida, Dist. Gautam Budh Nagar, UP. & Published from Ajoy Bhavan, 15-Com.Indrajit Gupta Marg, New Delhi-110 002. Ph: 011-2323 0762. EDITOR: SHAMEEM FAIZEE *E-mail: [email protected] Layout: JANARDANAN. R New Age Weekly