The Kerala Chief Minister should take the lead in organising a meet of all Chief Ministers to formulate a plan to strengthen the federal system in the country at a time when all the power is being concentrated in the Union government, economist Prabhat Patnaik has said. He was speaking after inaugurating a people’s convention organised by the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad here on Sunday.
“Kerala has taken a stand at variance with the economic policies dictated by globalisation, even when the whole country is falling prey to them. Hence, there are chances of the Union government trying to squeeze it by not providing the usual share of funds and food grains. If there is a cut on the share of food grains, it will have serious consequences. To prevent this, the government should preserve the existing paddy cultivation and increase production,” said Mr. Patnaik.
He said neo-liberal policies were causing unprecedented damage to small-scale production systems. Small-scale farmers and fish workers in the State were facing a drastic fall in income. This was one reason for the increasing inequality. To tide over the current crisis, the strong co-operative sector in the State should work together with the panchayats for an alternative model. For this, the idea of decentralisation had to be re-imagined with people’s participation, he said.
KSSP president K.P. Aravindan presided over the convention.
