Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Friday warned the Centre of continued agitation by the Left parties if it did not rollback petrol and diesel prices.
“Yesterday was the first phase of our agitation. If there is no reduction on petrol and diesel prices in the future, then we will strengthen our drive,” she told journalists here.
Ms. Karat said that price rise was currently the most important agenda of the Left parties. “It is an issue-based struggle which directly affects the common people as it is the fallout of the Centre's policies,” she stated.
Expressing concern that there was a huge variance between the Centre's data and the States' information in ascertaining the number of families living below the poverty line, Ms. Karat said that classification of families into above poverty line (APL) and the below poverty line (BPL) was objectionable and demanded that the Centre must universalise the public distribution system instead.
“According to information provided by the States, there are 10.53 crore families who should be included in the BPL list. If the Tendulkar Commission recommendation of including 8.5 crore families as BPL is accepted, it means denying two crore families of BPL benefits,” she remarked.
“In a country where every second child is underweight, we can ill-afford such a step,” she said, adding “the move implied that the Centre was playing with the lives of the poor.”
Ms. Karat suggested that the Centre would instead do well to pay heed to the Arjun Sengupta report, which pointed out that 77 per cent people earned less than Rs.20 a day, and accordingly universalise the PDS.
“Massive quantity of foodgrains was lying in the buffer stock. They [the Centre] are keeping the rats happy, while children are dying,” she said, sharply slamming the Centre's delay on the Food Security Act.
Taking strong objection to the Central government's move to disinvest 10 per cent of their stake in SAIL, Ms. Karat declared that the exercise was aimed at misleading the people and depriving workers of their livelihood.
“The step means that the government stake will be down to 69.2 per cent,” she said, commenting that the Congress' allies like Mamata Banerjee were regrettably giving in to such manoeuvres.
Criticising Ms. Banerjee's dual standards, Ms. Karat censured her for vociferously speaking out against the Women's Bill.
Condemning the Dantewada attack, Ms. Karat said “the methods used by the ultras were not even remotely connected to the theories of Marx and Mao.”
“Only recently, our most trusted Adivasi leader was killed in Orissa by the Maoists and ironically not by the contractors whose threats he had survived,” she said.
“Not for tribals”
“The Naxals are not there for the benefit of the tribals. They use dense forests as it is geographically advantageous to them. But having said that the Centre should stop giving mining leases to giant corporates indiscriminately and ensure that the tribals are not displaced from their lands,” she stated.
She regretted Home Minister Chidambaram's comment on the performance of West Bengal when he stated that “the buck stopped with the Chief Minister.”
“He [Mr. Chidambaram] should not politicise the issue [the Naxal menace], but strategise. The Home Minister should instead stress on concerted co-ordination between the States,” she said.
“It cannot be said with certainty that problems have been aggravated by intensification of armed operations against the Maoists [read Green Hunt].”
Referring to the state of affairs in West Bengal, Ms. Karat blamed Ms. Banerjee's Trinamool Congress for being hand-in-glove with the Maoists, thereby causing the deaths of hundreds of CPI (M) cadres.
