The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on November 6. THE union finance minister has, once again, reconfirmed that the Modi government is continuing with the anti-people neo-liberal economic reforms followed by the previous UPA government. Further, the Modi government is set to pursue such reforms more aggressively. Speaking at the inaugural session of the India Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industry, the finance minister said that his government has begun the long journey of reforms. He said that the government has set new rules for allocation of mining licenses through e-auction. Commercial mining by private investors is also being extended for other minerals apart from coal. Coal is a sector that has been nationalised by parliamentary legislation. Such privatisation of India’s rich mineral resources, instead of such mining being confined to the public sector, will only allow maximisation of private profits without developing domestic industry that should utilise these resources for domestic job creation and economic growth. He announced that in the defence sector, railways and real estate, larger scope for foreign investments is being eased. Already having curtailed the MGNREGA, the FM has now informed that his government will amend the Land Acquisition Bill to permit private schools, hospitals, hotels etc on land acquired by the government to facilitate the building of “Smart Cities”. This will impose further burdens depriving large sections of the Indian peasantry of their livelihood and pushing greater numbers towards “distress suicides”. Informing that the Modi government will provide greater profit maximisation avenues to international finance capital, the FM said that India will facilitate WTO trade facilitation and said that this government has no “ideological opposition” on this issue. The Modi government will pursue reducing the existing meagre subsidies for the poor further in the name of “rationalisation”. Such reforms will impose further miseries on the already groaning sections of the vast sections of our population. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) disapproves of such announcements on the eve of the winter session of parliament. Popular people’s protest will be intensified against such an economic policy direction that imposes greater burdens on the livelihood of the vast mass of our people.