March to Save Vizag Steel Plant

THE Steel Plant Employees’ Union, Visakhapatnam (CITU) gave a clarion call to the permanent and contract employees of the state-owned Vizag Steel Plant for a 26-km rally on April 5. More than 4,000 workers started the march at 5 AM from the steel plant main gate and reached Vizag city central park at 12 noon, with massive response and solidarity from the public, fraternal trade unions and several mass organisations at 22 different points.

West Bengal Panchayat: Elections Stop Attacks, Restore Democracy & Democratic Rights

THE Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation All India Forward Bloc, Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), have issued the following statement on April 6, 2018 · Submission of nominations by Left Front and opposition candidates obstructed.· Block and SDO offices are cordoned off by TMC armed gangs.· Attacks on opposition activists and candidates in all districts.· More than 200 people have been injured.· State Election Commission is virtually defunct.· Police is compl

MAHARASHTRA Kisan Long March: A Remarkable Struggle

ON October 3-4, 2016, over 50,000 adivasi peasants, women, youth and students from various tribal districts of Maharashtra held a gherao of the house of the BJP tribal development minister at the sub divisional centre of Wada in Palghar district. The struggle was jointly led by the AIKS, AIDWA, DYFI, SFI and AARM.

West Bengal:Brazen Assault on Democracy

THE three-tier panchayat elections in West Bengal is becoming a farcical exercise due to the unprecedented and shameful attack by the ruling Trinamul Congress to throttle the democratic process at the outset itself. One has heard of rigging elections by capturing booths, but this is the first time the elections are sought to be rigged by capturing the administrative offices where nominations are filed.From April 2 to 9, the period when nominations were to be filed for the three phase election, West Bengal has witnessed the shameful spectacle of armed Trinamul gangs surrounding the block de

Southern Ministers' Meet Demands Change in Finance Commission's Terms of Reference

AN unusual gathering of finance ministers from South Indian states demanded the centre to change the terms of reference of the 15th finance commission which is expected to lessen the powers of the states. The meeting held on April 10, at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala has decided to prepare a memorandum on this regard. The five ministers will again meet at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to finalise the draft of the memorandum and invitation will be sent to finance ministers of other states too.

Fixed Term Employment for Promoting Ease of Doing Business

THE World Bank’s ease of doing business index in 2018 ranked India at 100, up from 130 a year ago. Buoyed with this report, the BJP government has reportedly targeted 90 reforms to further climb up the ladder to reach the top 50.Extending Fixed Term Employment to all sectors is undoubtedly one such measure.On March 16th this year, the government issued a Gazette notification amending the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946, allowing Fixed Term Employment in all sectors.

18th Conference of Association of Indian Communists

THE AIC conference was held on March 31 and April 1, in the historic industrial city of Manchester for the first time. Delegates and friends representing the diverse Indian diaspora from cities across UK and Ireland assembled in the Comrade Avtar Singh Nagar for the rally and conference.General secretary of the CPI(M), Sitaram Yechury was joined in solidarity by leaders of the Communist Party of Britain and Awami Workers’ Party from Pakistan and local dignitaries.A resolution expressing condemnation and outrage at the cold blooded killing of Palestinian people was unanimously adopted.

Young Women’s Convention Resolves to Build a Gender-Equal Youth Movement

THE Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) has resolved to step-up progressive youth’s struggle for gender equality. All India Young Women’s Convention organized by the DYFI central executive committee in Chennai from April 1-3 has charted out a plan of action towards this end.Apart from the CEC members, 97 delegates from various states took part. The convention began on April 1 with the garlanding of Ambedkar statue, an impressive procession from Vyasarpadi to Mahakavi Bharathi Nagar followed by a public meeting.

Some Comments on the Draft National Forest Policy 2018

THIS note on behalf of the CPI(M) is to record our opposition to the main thrust of the Draft National Forest Policy 2018 which is to privatise and commercialise forests. We see the policy document as a continuation of the unjust and pro-corporate process established by the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act (CAFA). This highly flawed law had eliminated the rights of tribal communities, other traditional forest dwellers and gram sabhas for access and management of forests and their produce. The draft policy takes this approach even further.

Hyderabad All-Set to Host 22nd Congress of the CPI(M)

HYDERABAD is gearing up towards hosting the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The Party state committee and the reception committee have taken the opportunity to host the Congress in the newly formed state of Telangana to campaign extensively against the twin dangers of neo-liberalism and communalism. The Party state committee is utilising the Congress preparations to implement the direction given by the Kolkata Plenum – to build a revolutionary party with a mass line.It is after sixteen years that Hyderabad is once again hosting the Party Congress.

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