NELLORE: Seeking to expose failures of neo-liberal policies, CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member B.V. Raghavulu has called upon the middle class and the poor to no longer nurture dreams of jobs and new employment opportunities promised by the so-called capitalist forces that strongly advocate liberalisation and globalisation.
“The failures of these policies are amply clear now in India. They have done more harm than good to the living conditions of common people in the past 25 years. But the control of a few corporate companies and their bosses has increased enormously at the expense of democratic institutions,” he said.
Mr. Raghavulu was delivering the chief guest address at a meet organised by the Employees’ and Teachers’ Joint Action Committee on the topic “Impact of liberalisation and globalisation on the people” at the Jetti Sesha Reddy Vignana Kendram here on Sunday.
Protectionism
He gave a wake-up call to the people on globalisation, saying America and other developed countries had embraced this for long but they were now dropping many indications of how protective they were becoming about the jobs of their own nationals and also about the development of their countries rather than going for international competitiveness.
Mr. Raghavulu deplored lack of rethinking in India on the subject while nations like the U.K., which voted to withdraw from the European Union, were doing so.
“It is time for a rethinking on the economic reforms pursued till now. Having seen the world trends, it is important to take a re-look sooner than later,” the CPI(M) leader added.
Terming the recent demonetisation as just an attempt to support forces of liberalisation, Mr. Raghavulu said this was a calculated exercise to destroy small and individual businesses in the informal sector to ensure the flourishing of big corporates and banks by way of encouraging cashless and digital transactions.
“It has served its purpose. Many people involved in informal sector were badly hurt. The big investors and capitalists have now tightened their grip over the country like never before,” he said.
Mr. Raghavulu lamented that democratic values and systems were now facing a serious threat in the U.S. where President Donald Trump was openly blaming judges and media.
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been belittling Opposition leaders in Parliament in an unprecedented way.
Mr. Raghavulu said these trends were not limited to one country or region and it was time for bringing in a new order where the rights of the poorer and
middle class sections would be truly protected and their job aspirations unfailingly fulfilled.
