On the North East Region The 21st Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep concern over the continuing state of underdevelopment and backwardness in the North-Eastern region of the country. The North-East has suffered apathy and neglect right from the British colonial period. Since Independence, a similar attitude of neglect and discrimination by successive governments has continued to hamstring the development of this region. The 21st Congress also takes note of the geo-political significance of the region, and the consequent need to create favourable conditions for economic, social and cultural development. The 21st Congress notes that this state of backwardness exists despite there being no dearth of natural, mineral, and human resources in the region. These have been exploited but never utilised for the development of the region. The major obstacle to the progress of the region has been the lack of investment in basic infrastructure by the Central government. Such infrastructure is essential to fully realise the natural resources with which the region is richly endowed. There is an urgent need for the all-round development of all forms of transport and telecommunications connectivity in the region. Further, the region’s development needs a quantum leap in power generation. Such urgent development of infrastructure will also pave the way for specifically addressing the particular requirements of agriculture and other allied sectors of economy. The potential for development of tourism in the region, with its rich and exquisite natural beauty, is unlimited. In the past, governments at the Centre had formally used the catch phrase “Look East” to demonstrate their claim of giving importance to the region. Such slogans remained largely unrealised because of a lack of matching action and commitment of financial resources. The present Modi government has begun to raise the new slogan of “Act East” to replace the “Look East” of earlier years. No concrete measures in this regard have been spelt out as yet. The 21st Congress, while resolving to campaign and struggle for the development of the North East, holds that all projects must be on the basis of the consent and cooperation of the people. Mega projects planned without any scientific study or impact assessment will do more harm. In this backdrop of continued neglect and apathy, conditions that spawn extremism have disrupted the peace and tranquility of the region. The problems of the region and of extremism have been further exacerbated by the activities of agencies such as the CIA and the ISI. Sectarian identity politics have taken a turn for the worse, especially in Assam, where ethnic clashes and conflicts have become the order of the day. In the BTAD and adjoining areas, frequent incidents by extremist elements of ethnic and communal violence continue to inflict immense pain and suffering on thousands of innocent people belonging to both Bodo and non-Bodo groups. Muslims of the State and Adivasis are subjected to gruesome attacks and killings perpetrated by heavily armed Bodo extremist outfits. Extremist forces have also attacked poor migrant workers. In this charged situation, the BJP and Sangh Parivar are trying to divide the people further on communal lines. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M) condemns the use of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act. This Act has been used for extra judicial killings and assaults on ordinary citizens, including women and children. The 21st Congress also notes that, given the rich diversity and plurality of the region, it is extremely important to address the sense of alienation among the people of the North-East in order to take forward the process of integration. In this context, it is shocking that North East citizens residing in other parts of India have been targets of racial attacks, which intensify feelings of alienation. This Party Congress strongly protests the new Government’s move to discontinue, if not actually abrogate, the very important “Special Category States” status to the States of the North-Eastern Region. This will scuttle specific financial facilities that have proved useful in a context of completely inadequate support from the Union Government. Such a measure will have a disastrous impact on the interests of the region and its people. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M), taking note of all these factors, demands that: • the Government of India take urgent steps to ensure the development of vital infrastructure and connectivity for the North-Eastern Region; • the Government of India immediately abandon any move to withdraw the special category status to the North-Eastern States and enable them to avail the financial benefits and facilities that are vital in sustaining the development of this backward region; • AFSPA must be repealed. • The government of India should declare annual floods and erosion in Assam to be a national problem. • the Central Government take appropriate steps to protect the rights of the people of the North-East in all parts of the country. On Palestine The 21st Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its solidarity with the people of Palestine. The Congress condemns the atrocious attacks launched by Israel on the people of Palestine, who are struggling for freedom for their homeland. In spite of worldwide opposition to the inhuman occupation and subjugation of Palestine, Israel continues its aggressive policy of expansion. The re-election of Netanyalu represents the most aggressive policy against the Palestinian people. Israeli aggression reached new heights with the construction of an unethical and illegal wall, which further restricted Palestinians to only 12 percent of the historic Palestine. Israel has continued to colonise even those areas that were specifically reserved by the United Nations for Palestinians. The objective was to drive the Palestinians away from the region by taking away all their best land and resources, including water. The situation today is that around 70 percent of all Palestinians are refugees as they are pushed out of their houses and land by the Israeli military. As a result of the expansionist policies of Israel, Gaza has been reduced to a tiny strip of land surrounded by Israel, making it the largest open-air prison in the world. Nothing can pass in or out of Gaza without the permission of the Israeli authorities. Israel completely controls the flow of goods to Palestine and all imports and exports have to pass through Israeli security checks, hampering Palestinian trade severely. Israel’s blockade is directly responsible for the sharp reduction in economic activity, and increased unemployment and poverty since September 2000. It is on such an impoverished and imprisoned people that Israel launched its recent military offensive on Gaza, including United Nations facilities in Gaza, killing thousands of Palestinians. These attacks are backed to the hilt by U. S. imperialism, notwithstanding the statements made by various U. S. officials. It is because of this support that Israel blatantly transgresses human rights, United Nations conventions, treaties, and laws. The Prime Minister of Israel is on record opposing the just demand of statehood for Palestine. In this background, the decision of the United Nations in 2014 to recognise the State of Palestine, despite the opposition of the U. S., Israel and their lackeys, assumes significance. The decision of Palestine to join the International Criminal Court paves the way for the prosecution of Israel for war crimes. While many countries in the world are coming out in support of the cause of Palestine, the Modi Government at the Centre, in its keenness to develop strategic ties with Israel, is distancing itself from India’s traditional policy of support to the Palestinian people, and even refused to allow any discussion of the Israeli attack on Gaza in Parliament. India, is in, fact the largest purchaser of Israeli arms, and thus indirectly finances Israeli military raids on Palestine. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M) reiterates its support to the just demand for a Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the capital. It demands that the Indian Government stand firmly by the cause of Palestine and stop all its defence deals with Israel. The Congress calls upon the people of our country to demonstrate their support to the struggling people of Palestine by boycotting Israeli goods. On the Issue of Sri Lankan Tamils The 21st Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) notes that six years after the end of the civil war, the problems of the Sri Lankan Tamils have not been resolved in any meaningful manner. The resettlement and rehabilitation of Tamil people, justice for the atrocities they suffered and provision of more powers to the northern province are still to take place. The new government under President Maithripala Sirisena promised and has taken certain steps in this regard, however it is a matter of concern that the old situation continues by and large. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M) urges the new Sri Lankan government to take the following measures to move towards finding a permanent political solution to the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils: • Implementation of the 13th Amendment with more powers for the Northern and Eastern Provinces. • The wartime deployment of armed forces must be withdrawn from Tamil provinces and rule by the provincial governments ensured. • Equal status for Tamil language • Tamils should have the same rights as the Sinhalese citizens • Tamils who were displaced from their habitations should be resettled in the same areas. The lands seized from them should be restored to them. Steps should be taken for their economic and social uplift. Health, education and employment should be ensured for them. • In sum, the basic rights of Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka must be ensured. The Sri Lankan government should conduct a credible inquiry into the human rights violations in the final stages of the armed conflict in May 2009. This should be undertaken by an independent and credible panel of persons. The recommendations of the panel of experts appointed by the UN Secretary General and those of the LLRC should be implemented. We urge both the Indian and the Sri Lankan governments to ensure that those refugees who choose to return to their homeland are enabled to live a life of dignity. The government of India must utilize the new political situation in Sri Lanka and undertake diplomatic measures to help achieve the above and to resolve the issue of fishermen of Tamilnadu through speedy mutual talks. For Employment or an Unemployment Allowance -- Make the Right to Work a Fundamental Right The 21st Congress of the CPI (M) expresses deep concern at the alarming unemployment situation in the country. High unemployment, the outcome of more than 30 years of economic reform, seriously threatens the future of millions of Indian youth. The policy being pushed by the Modi Government will not solve the problem. Instead of increasing public investment to ensure the creation of jobs, the Government is relying entirely on the organised private sector, and corporations, domestic and foreign, to invest in India and create jobs. The `Make in India’ campaign is providing huge concessions to foreign and domestic big business without any guarantee of jobs creation. Similar policies followed by the UPA Government, that is, of giving multiple concessions to attract investors, did not create commensurate employment opportunities. On the contrary, the situation worsened. Data from the 66th Round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) show a dramatic deceleration in total employment growth in India. The rate of growth of employment declined from 2.7 per cent in 2000-5 to an alarming low of 0.8 per cent in 2009-10. The rate of growth of employment thus fell below the rate of growth of population. The 2015 Economic Survey points out that, while the annual rate of growth of the labour force between 2001 and 2011 was 2.23 per cent, the annual rate of growth of employment over the same period was only 1.4 per cent, underlining the feature of jobless and even job loss growth. A very disturbing feature of unemployment is that it was much higher among youth in the age-group 15-29 years than in the working population as a whole. The finding of the NSS that youth unemployment among educated persons was higher than among others, and that it was highest in the category of graduates and above, is a matter of grave concern. There has been a reduction in employment in the organised sector. Total employment in the organised sector was 28.2 million in 1998; that figure came down to 27.5 million in 2008. Another trend is the increasing share of contract workers in the labour force, from 20 per cent in 1999-2000 to 32 per cent in 2008-9 (the share has now crossed 50 per cent). The failure to generate adequate employment is thus accompanied by the creation of jobs that are very exploitative. The Government, which is the main employer in the organised sector, has been implementing a recruitment ban, abolishing posts and outsourcing Government work. Perennial data compiled from answers given in Parliament show that more than a million vacancies are lying unfilled in various Central Government Departments, with the number of unfilled vacancies in the police and defense forces alone amounting to over 700,000. The total number of employees in the railways has come down from 16 lakhs to 13 lakhs over a period of ten years. The number of vacancies in Group C and erstwhile Group D posts in the railways (as on April 1, 2011) was over 2.2 lakh. The case is similar in other public sector enterprises. Since the dissolution of Banking Service Recruitment Board (BSRB), there has been a drastic reduction in recruitment in public sector banks. In various Central Government departments, thousands of vacancies exist even for skilled professionals such as teachers, doctors, scientists, statisticians, economists, and others. The drastic reduction in recruitments to Government and public-sector jobs has led to a loss of opportunities for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. This has undermined the principle of social justice and the policy of reservation. The aggravated unemployment situation shows the lopsided and imbalanced trajectory of growth in the period of neo-liberal reform. Even when overall output growth has increased, agricultural growth has decelerated. In 2009-10, the share of agriculture in GDP had fallen to 13 per cent, while the share of the work force in agriculture was still 52 per cent. There is an alarming decline in the rate of industrial growth as well. Though 60 per cent of the country’s GDP comes from services, the faster growth rate in this sector has not been accompanied by the generation of adequate employment opportunities. Although the industrial and service sectors have failed to absorb the surplus work force from agriculture, the Government continues to depend on the private sector to provide jobs, while cutting down on its own responsibilities under the pretext of “minimum government.” New economic measures proposed by the Government, such as permitting Foreign Direct Investment in retail trade, will worsen unemployment in the country. This deepening crisis of unemployment will have other adverse socio-economic consequences, like for example, the drug menace. The growing disillusionment and anger of unemployed youth can be utilised by communal forces and other disruptive elements. We have to maintain a constant vigil against this danger and must continue to mobilise youth against the policies that cause such high levels of unemployment. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M) reiterates the demand of the Party that the right to work be made a fundamental right, and further raises the following demands for building a broad movement against unemployment. 1. Remove the ban on recruitment in various Central and State government departments and public sector enterprises. 2. Stop the abolition of vacant posts and fill all vacancies within a prescribed time frame, and stop contracterising perennial posts. 3. Stop outsourcing of jobs in government departments and public sector enterprises. 4. Reinstate the Banking Service Recruitment Board. 5. Provide unemployment allowance to registered unemployed persons and modernise employment exchanges. 6. Expand the coverage of the MGNREGA to all adult individuals and raise the limit of 100 days of guaranteed employment. 7. Initiate an urban employment guarantee scheme at minimum wages. 8. Enhance financial support for self-employment schemes, self-help groups, and small enterprises. 9. Implement far-reaching land reforms and land distribution among the landless in order to reduce massive rural unemployment. 10. Release employment data along with quarterly GDP estimates. On Crimes against Women The 21st Party Congress expresses its deep concern at the continued increase in crimes against women. The number of registered criminal cases crossed 300,000 in 2013. The number of rapes of women was more than 33,000 in a single year, or one rape every 16 minutes. Shockingly, there was a 44 per cent increase over one year in the number of rapes of minors; such rapes constitute more than one third of all registered cases of rape. More than 8000 women are burnt to death for dowry in a year, yet the conviction rate with respect to this crime is dismal. Of the number of people accused of violent crimes against women, 75 per cent walk free. The brutality of the crimes against women and children, including disabled women, reflects a deeply disturbing misogynistic trend. Neo-liberal policies promote cultures that commodify women.There has been a violent backlash against the assertions by women of the right to equality in all spheres, including the domestic sphere. This backlash is reflected in cases in which rapists have filmed their crimes and proudly flaunted the recordings on the Internet. Young women are increasingly questioning and defying conservative notions of women as secondary citizens, and thereby becoming targets of attack. The Nirbhaya case in Delhi symbolised all these issues. Poor women, particularly Dalit women, continue to be most vulnerable to class- and caste-based sexual crimes. In spite of the law against sexual harassment at the workplace being enacted, its implementation is most unsatisfactory. Gender specific violence is a characteristic feature of communal violence. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M) condemns the utter failure of Governments and law enforcement agencies to fully implement the recommendations of the Verma Commission. On the contrary, objectionable moves are on to dilute existing laws such as Section 498A. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M) also expresses its strong protest against the proliferation of rape cultures that justify rape and blame women for the violence against them. It is shameful and utterly unacceptable that some leaders of political parties, Ministers in Government, and many elected members of Parliament and Assemblies also make sexist statements, using language demeaning to women with impunity, and that they are protected by their parties. It is shameful that an elected member from the Trinamul Congress, Tapas Pal, was protected and defended by the Chief Minister of West Bengal after he had threatened rape against women who were his political opponents. The 21st Party Congress of the CPI(M) also expresses concern at the increasing criminalisation of politics and the criminal behaviour of some elected members towards women. According to a recent estimate, 369 MPs and MLAs in the country face charges of crimes against women, including crimes of rape and molestation. The Kerala Legislative Assembly recently witnessed the most shameful display of sexist behaviour by ruling UDF MLAs against women members of the LDF. Earlier, in the West Bengal Assembly, women members of the Left Front were targeted and badly beaten up when they were protesting against increasing crime in West Bengal. Instead of taking action against criminals, Governments have often protected those responsible, or, as in the case of the present Modi Government, maintained a deafening silence when their own Ministers and MPs make statements against women. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M) reiterates the commitment of the Party to uphold and work for the equal rights of women and to promote and work for democratic cultures and environments in which women have safe, secure, and equal access to all public spaces, and enjoy freedom from fear of violence. The 21st Congress of the CPI(M) demands that the Government • implement, in a timebound way, the Verma Committee recommendations in full for the prevention and punishment of crimes against women; • act against personnel subverting the laws to prevent and curb crimes against women; and • set up a mechanism in Parliament and State Assemblies to make elected members and leaders accountable and punishable for any sexist or demeaning statements they make against women.