A UNIQUE exercise in Party education and exchange of ideas among comrades took place in West Bengal on March 19, when study circles were organised in Party branches throughout the state. The agenda of the study circle was Party Programme.  

CPI(M) West Bengal state committee has decided to organise such a single day programme with an aim to educate and re-educate all Party members about the main strategic document of the Party. These study circles would serve as supplementary to organised Party classes and help self-education too. This process is part of developing the quality of membership, which was discussed both in Kolkata Plenum and West Bengal state plenum.

To achieve this goal, an outline explanatory note on Party Programme, prepared by State Party education sub-committee, was distributed in hundreds. Workshops were held at district, zonal and local levels to prepare the resource persons. A guideline for conducting study circles was also distributed.

Though the idea was to conduct these study circles in a single day, a broader timeline of a week was there to accommodate all branches and auxiliary groups in all areas of the state. On March 19, thousands of branches met, some of them clubbed together and discussed Party Programme. Resource persons were told to present main features of the Party Programme in 30 minutes. All Party members were encouraged to participate in the discussion.

As reports poured in, this programme was implemented with enthusiasm. In terrorised areas, Party units met even facing difficulties. In some cases, the programme actually started from 18th night. Higher committee members were present in branches. Biman Basu, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Suryakanta Misra participated in Party units attached with state centre. Even though all branches could not meet, overwhelming majority of them took part in this exemplary process.

The range of discussion was wide. Apart from comprehending the details of the Programme, every day experiences were reflected in discussion. Organisational questions, problems of organising movements were raised in the free and frank discussion. Party members emphasised the need to conduct more and consistent exercises of Party education through different methods. They particularly underlined the need to strengthen the entire Party for tough ideological battles.  

Kolkata district committee will conduct this exercise on April 22-23.

The state committee will review the outcome in detail and will prepare a road map for further steps.