WHILE WRITING LETTER TO BUDDHADEB BHATTACHARJEE FORGETS MASSACRE OF PASSENGERS IN GYANESWARI EXPRESS BY MAOIST BUTCHERS.

D.O. No. 119-CM

December 28, 2010

Dear Shri Chidambram,

Kindly refer to your secret letter dated 21/22 December, 2010 which had been published in the media before it reached my office on 27.12.2010 at 11 A.M.

Your assessment of the situation in the State of West Bengal is surprising and is far from an impartial overview of the situation. Maoists have spread from across the bordering states and with the help of small section of local people are creating problems mostly in 28 police stations in three districts of West Bengal. They are trying to create their own areas of dominance. They are indiscriminately killing political opponents and even innocent people. They are attacking police stations, police camps and looting arms. They are also engaged in large scale extortions and other unlawful activities.

You are fully aware of these activities of the Maoists. The greatest challenge is how to contain the Maoists and defeat them finally both administratively and politically.

In recent times State and Central Police through their joint efforts have achieved major successes. Peace and normalcy have been restored in vast areas. People who were evicted earlier are going back to their homes. Govt/Panchayat office are functioning normally and so are the schools, markets and shops. Life is gradually coming back to normalcy in these areas but still we have problem in the areas bordering our state. Trinamool Congress which was earlier maintaining secret contacts with Maoist leaders and outfits are now openly organising meetings with them.

CPI (M) and it allies are trying their best to resist the Maoists by mobilizing people against them and in the process have lost more than 170 of their workers and leaders. Unfortunately, you are now blaming them for the present state of affairs. I am afraid it will divert the attention of all concerned who are struggling against Maoists, the greatest threat to our internal security.

As regards political clashes mentioned in your letter I would like to correct your figures. 32 Trinamool Congress supporters have been killed and 601 have suffered injuries while CPI (M) have lost 69 of their cadres and another 723 have been injured. Indian National Congress has lost one of their supporters and 111 have been injured during the period mentioned in your letter. I, however, agree that it is not a happy situation and I am doing my best to stop these senseless killings. I have repeatedly appealed to all the opposition parties to cooperate. All the parties except Trinamool Congress have come forward to cooperate. Trinamool Congress has refused to talk to administration. I am trying to disarm and demoblise all armed groups engaged in violence in some pockets of the state.

I strongly object to your using the word “Harmed” to mean the CPI (M) party workers without knowing the actual meaning of this nasty word coined by Trinamool Congress leaders.

More when we meet.

With regards,

Yours sincerely,

Sd/-

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Shri P. Chidambram

Union Home Minister

New Delhi-110 001

SITARAM YECHURY: CONGRESS AFRAID JPC PROBE MAY BRING PM INTO AMBIT OF INVESTIGATION

ONE of the reasons behind the Congress party not agreeing to forming a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe into the 2G spectrum scam could be that it is afraid that it would bring prime minister into the ambit of investigation since the former telecom minister A Raja had stated that he had kept the PM in loop on every decision he took.

This was stated by CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury while addressing an extended meeting of Party Andhra Pradesh state committee in Hyderabad on December 19, 2010. He felt that there is every possibility of a severe political crisis emerging in the nation on this issue and referred to the unprecedented total blocking of a complete session of parliament recently. Yechury blamed the Congress and the government for this and placed the onus on them for smooth running of at least the budget session of parliament.

Tracing these scams to the pursuit of neo-liberal policies being implemented by successive governments, Yechury felt that new avenues are opening up and creative methods are being employed in these scams. The unprecedented amounts of money from 2G spectrum scam and various other scams, including from illegal mining, are posing a serious threat to our democracy itself as was evident in Karnataka and other states in the form of money power influencing elections. Keeping this in mind, the CPI(M) Central Committee has decided to develop a nationwide movement along with non-BJP, non-Congress secular parties before the budget session of parliament.

Condemning the fifth increase of petro prices this year, Yechury charged the government of heaping greater economic burdens on people through its neo-liberal policies. With high unemployment levels both in organised and unorganised sector and an increase of general inflation rate by 20 per cent in this year alone, the CPI (M) has decided to intensify struggles against these policies. He stressed the need to bring pressure on the ruling classes to change its policies through these struggles.

Yechury said the major challenge before the Party today is to defeat the concerted efforts being made by the ruling forces to marginalise and isolate it. Because the CPI (M) and the Left Front are the only consistent force in fighting these neo-liberal policies, the ruling classes are making big efforts to target it. The violence in Bengal is an expression of these attacks and it needs to be fought politically not just by Bengal comrades alone but by the entire Party, he said. Referring to separate Telangana movement in the state, Yechury said the ruling classes also bring such divisive issues to the fore in order to isolate the Left. He counselled that this issue needs to be dealt in a careful manner.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and state secretary, B V Raghavulu, placing the political resolution in the extended meeting, charged the Congress party of playing with the future of the state by keeping the issue of separate Telangana issue simmering in an opportunistic manner. He was sceptical about the Congress finding a solution to the issue after the submission of Srikrishna Committee report by December 31. He felt the main bourgeois parties in the state want to keep this issue alive in order to divert the people's attention from real issues facing them. He reiterated the CPI(M) stand that the state would develop only if it remains integrated.

The conditions of people in the state worsened this year due to untimely rains, lack of governance due to bickering in the ruling Congress establishment, the non-implementation of welfare schemes etc. The economic development of the state has also taken a beating with the real estate sector in doldrums. Various working people of the state are agitating on their demands and it is being met with brute force from the government. Raghavulu said that the extended meeting of the Party needs to chalk out struggles on the immediate issues facing the people of the state, particularly of dalits, tribals, rural and urban poor etc. Genuine people's issues that are being sought to be pushed under the carpet need to be highlighted by the Party and it is imperative to stand by the people in their moment of crisis.

Source: www.pd.cpim.org/

11TH PLANNING COMMISSION: DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES IN THE REPORT OF 11TH PLANNING COMMISSION

CLICK TO ENLARGE

PRASANTA CHATTERJEE, MP, WITES ON SILENCE OF PM’S OFFICE ON WIMAX FRANCHISE ISSUE

ANYONE, who is interested in the mystery of WiMax franchise, may go through the website of Starnet Communications. On their website, the Starnet Communications say that “Starnet Communications Pvt Ltd, formerly known as AMPOULES & AUTO PVT LTD established since 1958 at Kolkata, West Bengal, India to provide project consultancy for the emerging auto industry.”

In reply to an Unstarred Question No 1558 dated March 11, 2010, the minister of state in the ministry of communication and information technology informed Rajya Sabha that “The government has short-listed four companies to fight for state-run telecom giant BSNL's franchisees on it latest WiMax. The four short-listed companies are Teracom, Take Solutions, Adishwar India and Ampoules & Auto”. The government confirmed the information in the Rajya Sabha. In a written reply, the minister of state for communications and IT, Gurudas Kamat, informed that the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) had been passed the names of those four companies. He also said that all these companies had successfully fulfilled the bidding norms set by the franchisor that they must be registered in India for more than two years and must have a minimum turnover of Rs 100 crore in each of the last two years. Companies providing WiMax operation in foreign countries were also allowed to bid with the condition that they submit an undertaking before signing the agreement with BSNL. The minister anticipated that the BSNL would soon start other formalities to begin the process.

Interestingly, M/s Starnet’s name was nowhere there in the bidding process.

On November 26, 2009, Ampoules & Auto Pvt. Ltd declared that “Ampoules & Auto Pvt Ltd is glad to inform that it has participated successfully in the BSNL WiMax tender bid dated November 25, 2009 in Chennai.”

On November 30, 2009, Ampoules & Auto Pvt Ltd declared that “Ampoules & Auto Pvt Ltd would like to inform that” the company’s name had been changed and that it is now known as Starnet Communications Pvt Ltd.

The question is: Was M/s Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd eligible for short-listing?

At the outset, one feels puzzled to note that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) short-listed a company for WiMax franchise who would be providing project consultancy for the emerging auto industry during the bidding process.

Clause 1.1 of the tender number CGMP/CHI/EOI-WiMAX(e)Tender.2009-10/1 dated June 4, 2009, stipulated thus stipulated the condition: “Original Equipment Manufacturer / System Integrator having a turnover of at least 100 crore for the last two financial years and meeting other eligibility conditions as stipulated in EOI document are eligible for biding.”

So, in the very first instance, Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd should have beenn declared disqualified for bidding since the company was not an “Original Equipment Manufacturer / System Integrator” at the time of bidding.

Again, from the copies of the annual returns submitted by Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd, it transpires that the company did not have a turnover of 100 crore during any of the last two financial years.

Inspite of these hard facts, M/s Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd was short-listed for WiMax franchise.

Out of curiosity, an enquiry was made at 114A, Madan Mohan Burman Street, Kolkata 700 007, the office address given for M/s Ampoules and Auto Pvt Ltd. Strangely, the people living at the given address had never heard of any such company at the aforesaid address.

On August 30, 2010, several members of parliament including myself wrote to the prime minister to demand an enquiry. The letter was followed by another two letters to the prime minister on October 22, 2010 and November 30, 2010. Only the first two letters were acknowledged by the prime minister. So far, no enquiry has been ordered.

Now, a print media report says that an enquiry is being conducted by the chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) into the matter of WiMax franchise.

The logical conclusion is this.

If the said media report is true, this involves something unethical since the present CVC was secretary of the DoT during the period when the WiMax franchise was decided and, as such, the question of a conflict of interests come in the way.

The entire opposition in both the houses of parliament is today demanding the constitution of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe into the 2G and 3G spectrum scams. Now, this is an added issue that needs to be enquired.

Since the very functioning of the DoT during the period of A K Raja is under clout while Raja is constantly defending himself, stating that what had been done was in the knowledge of the prime minister’s office (PMO). The matter needs to be examined by a JPC only, as the public accounts committee (PAC) can examine the case only on the basis of the comptroller and auditor general’s report on 2G spectrum allocation but the case of WiMax franchise was beyond the scope of the CAG.

Will the government show enough courage to constitute a joint parliamentary committee?

Courtesy: People’s Democracy

MID-DAY MEAL WORKERS PROTEST PRIVATISATION MOVE, DEMAND DECENT WAGE

DOESN’T the government have any responsibility to see how we survive? I have to bring the firewood and fetch the water for cooking. I have to go many miles for that. Sometimes I have to bring the masala and oil too for cooking. The school headmaster and the teachers demand that I clean the school premises and classrooms even though it is not my job. We have to bear all kinds of abuses. When we ask for our monthly payment, we are always told the money has not reached. We get a paltry amount of Rs 300. Even that we get after 5 to 10 months. When the amount comes, the babu deducts his commission and the panch his own. For one year we have been hearing that our wage has been increased to Rs 1,000 per month. But it has not reached us to date. When the union took this up with the block and district authorities, they say there is no budget. We feed the children. We cook, serve and clean the premises. Why is the government not thinking about us? Why is it not seeing that no family can survive at Rs 1,000 a month? Now we have our union. We will fight under the CITU leadership and we are confident that we will achieve our rights.

These words from Lalvati from UP reflect the grievances of the 22 lakh mid-day meal workers engaged under the National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools.

On November 25, about 4,300 mid-day meal workers from 11 states --- Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh --- gathered in Parliament Street of Delhi to resist the government’s move to privatise the scheme and protest their pathetic working conditions.

Formed in February 2009, the All India Coordination Committee of Mid-Day Meal Workers (CITU) has been demanding regularisation, minimum wages and social security for the mid-day meal workers. The committee has also been fighting the privatisation of the scheme and its hand-over to corporate houses and to NGOs in the name of public-private partnership (PPP). Different state committees held state level rallies in July-August this year on these demands.

This being the first all-India rally after the Coordination Committee’s formation, the participation was higher than expected. More than a thousand mid-day meal workers reached Delhi on November 24. The unexpected rain played havoc and the camp set up for their stay at Kotla Road was all drenched. Bearing the cold, patiently helping the organisers in managing the situation by putting up dry carpets and tarpaulins, the gathering mainly from Orissa and Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh dared the weather.

On the 25th, those who had assembled the previous day took a colourful procession to the Parliament Street. A numbers of workers, a majority of them women, poured in from Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan on the day, forcing the administration to deploy the police in large numbers. Some 20 workers from Manipur and 40 from Assam could reach only by 6 pm that day since their train was late by 24 hours.

The presidium consisted of Uma Rani (AP), Bimla Thakuria (Assam), Sharbati (Haryana), Jagat Ram (HP), Mamata Mehanna (Orissa), Lalvati (UP), one from Rajasthan and Thankam (Kerala).

CITU president A K Padmanabhan inaugurated the march. In an inspiring speech in Hindi, he called upon the mid-day meal workers to fight against exploitation and carry on their struggle for their just demands including those of minimum wages and social security.

Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and leader of its parliamentary group, said that the government is fully involved in corruption and loot of public money and has no time to hear the just demands of the workers. He assured all support to the struggle of the mid-day meal workers. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat said that we must jointly fight the exploitation by the government in the name of ‘voluntary work.’ Basudeb Acharia, CPI(M) group’s leader in Lok Sabha, A Sampath, Ramachandra Dom and P K Biju also addressed the gathering. CITU general secretary Tapan Sen urged the workers to join en masse the March to Parliament by the central trade unions on February 23, 2011. CITU secretaries Dipankar Mukherjee and Hemalata as well treasurer Ranjana Nirula, Ashalata (AIDWA) and Vijender Sharma (National Forum in Defence of Education) expressed their solidarity with the mid-day meal workers’ struggle. Coordination Committee convenor A R Sindhu placed the charter of demands. CITU leaders from different states were also were present.

On behalf of the mid-day meal workers, Susheela (UP), Mamata Mehanna (Orissa), Jai Bhagvan (Haryana) Sudesh Kumari (HP), Hazarilal Sharma (Rajasthan), Saraswati Amma (Kerala) and Vijay Gabane (Maharashtra) addressed the gathering.

A delegation led by Tapan Sen and A R Sindhu, and including S Varalakshmi (Karnataka), Mamoni Dutta (Assam), Saroj (Haryana), Radha Sarnagi (Orissa) and Chabi Ram (HP), met the union minister for state Smt Purandeswari. But she passed the buck by saying the entire responsibility of implementing the scheme lay with the state governments. When the delegation asserted the demands and quoted the Planning Commission’s evaluation report and recommendations, she agreed to consider the demands. She also assured that the honorarium of Rs 1,000 would be paid without any deduction to the workers in all states. Regarding the burning issues of privatisation and retrenchment, there was no assurance except the repetition that the entire responsibility lay with the state governments.

The mid-day meal workers were patiently waiting for the return of the delegation, from 9 am in till 3.30 pm. A R Sindhu explained to the gathering the meeting with the minister. The gathering then took the decision to observe March 24, 2011 as Protest Day against the callous attitude of the central government and various state governments. State level rallies will be held in front of the state assemblies. It was also decided to join in large numbers in the March to Parliament by the central trade unions on February 23, 2011.

The first all-India protest action by the mid-day meal workers has created confidence among them and the rally of one of the most downtrodden sections of the society concluded with the pledge to strengthen the union and intensify the struggle.

Source: People’s Democracy