LEFT FRONT GOVERNMENT IN WEST BENGAL: 2012

Saturday, July 21, 2012

CPI (M) LAMBASTS OBAMA STATEMENT ON WALMART

CPI (M) LAMBASTS OBAMA STATEMENT

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on July 16, 2012.

THE Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) objects to the remarks made by President Obama that India open the doors to WalMart for retail trade and other American investments in India. The statement by Obama is a brazen attempt to pressurise the UPA government to adopt such steps as opening multibrand retail to FDI.

The Manmohan Singh government should not succumb to this pressure. The CPI (M) wants the government not to open up retail trade to foreign supermarket chains which will endanger the livelihoods of lakhs of small shopkeepers and traders.

STOP RETROGRADE AMENDMENT OF MNREGA - CPI (M)

STOP RETROGRADE AMENDMENT OF MNREGA

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on July 18, 2012.

THE Polit Bureau of the CPIM) strongly opposes the reported attempt by the central government to amend the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in so far as it provides for only a one-time adherence to minimum wages and a commitment to just provide funds to cover wages up to this extent for all times to come, except for an annual inflation linked revision. This absolves the central government from providing the full financial outlay for meeting the minimum wage payment and will increase the financial burden on state governments for this central programme.

The CPI(M) has for long been demanding the timely payment of minimum wages and regular price indexation under the scheme and the All India Kisan Sabha had got an order for payment of minimum wages and arrears from the Karnataka High Court, which the central government shamelessly opposed through its special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court. This unwillingness of the UPA government to provide minimum wages to the poor demonstrates once again the hollowness of its claim of being with the aam admi. The CPI(M) demands that the words ‘for the first time’ be dropped from the proposed amendment to 6(1) and the proposed amendment to 22(1)(a) be fully dropped.

KILLING OF INDIAN FISHERMAN BY US NAVY: LUKEWARM ATTITUDE OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on July 18, 2012.

THE premeditated killing of an Indian fisherman and injuries to three others due to firing by a US naval ship in the Persian Gulf within UAE waters is a highly condemnable and reprehensible act. It is shocking that the UPA government has not squarely condemned the incident and the external affairs minister has merely termed it as “unfortunate.”

This lukewarm attitude stems from the fact that India is engaged in military collaboration with the United States and the same US navy which fired on the Indian fishermen is constantly engaged in joint navel exercises with the Indian navy.

The country expects the Indian government to demand that the US naval personnel who committed this act of murder be arrested and put on trial. This is the stand which was taken in the case of the Italian naval personnel who shot and killed two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala.