THE three week long Kisan Sangharsh Jatha, organised by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), concluded in a huge public rally in New Delhi on November 24, 2016. The jatha originated from four different destinations in India – Jammu, Kolkata, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari. Each jatha led by their leaders – Amra Ram, Hannan Mollah, Vijoo Krishnan and P Krishnaprasad respectively – travelled a cumulative distance of 25,000 km covering almost all regions of the country.
THE All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU), in a statement issued on November 19 has demanded the central government to make immediate arrangements to dispense the wages of MNREGA workers on priority basis. Crores of MNREGA workers have not been paid due to lack of lower denomination notes over the last two weeks. Crores of workers’ wage dues are pending for more than three months and the central government has admitted the same in Supreme Court and assured that it will be paid as soon as possible.
THE railway accident involving the Indore-Patna Express at Pukhrayan, near Kanpur, has taken a terrible toll. 146 passengers perished and over 250 were injured, some of them maimed for the rest of their lives.
THE “cash war” declared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Indian people is exacting a heavy toll on the people. Scores of people, men, women and children have died as a result of the misery inflicted by the withdrawal of 1,000 and 500 rupee notes.
THE 18th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) saw a renewed vigor and determination in the resolve to work together in the coming days. This is quite natural as the IMCWP was held for the first time in a socialist country, Vietnam, ever since the process began with the first meeting held in 1999 in Greece.India can legitimately claim to have given the inspiration for this idea as the CPI(M) organised an international seminar on the 'Contemporary World Situation and the Validity of Marxism' in 1993, coinciding with the 175th birth anniversary of Karl Marx.
1981 to 2016 – these thirty-five years span AIDWA’s progress so far from struggle to struggle towards its objective of ‘Democracy, Equality and Women’s Emancipation’. As AIDWA completes its thirty-fifth year, it also prepares for its 11th triennial conference to be held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh from December 10-14, 2016.
THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) held a two-day workshop on caste oppression for the Hindi speaking states. 68 comrades from 10 states attended the workshop. The workshop underscored that for developing the Party and the Left and democratic movement in the Hindi-speaking states, it is essential to take up social issues. Among the various social problems, the major issue is of the deep-rooted caste system and the caste oppression engendered by it. Class exploitation and caste oppression are inextricably intertwined.
MID Day Meal Workers, at the call of the Mid Day Meal Workers’ Federation of India, held a big ‘Padav’ at Parliament Street in New Delhi on November 10-11, 2016, against the move to dismantle the School Mid Day Meal Scheme and for the long pending demands of minimum wages and social security for the 25 lakh mid day meal workers.Modi led NDA government has in the last two years cut the budget allocation for the MDM scheme by one-third.
WHILE the nation grapples with worthless 500 and 1000 rupee notes which have lost their premier value as legal tenders from the midnight of November 8-9, the prime minister’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal has proved to be a smart Alec. In the afternoon of November 8th the Kolkata’s Central Avenue branch of the Indian Bank (Branch code: 00C004; IFS Code; ID IB 000C004; MICR Code: 700019008) received a deposit of Rs 60 lakhs, all in the denomination of 1,000 rupee notes.
What is the CPI (M)’s critique of the Modi government’s demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes. Is it not a step to root out black money in the economy?Raghunathan, CoimbatoreLET us examine the claims made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he declared the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. He said that “corruption, black money and terrorism are festering sores” and demonetisation “will strengthen the hands of the common man in the fight against corruption, black money and fake currency”.