cpim election 2014 manifesto
Food Security
India ranks 94th out of 199 countries in the Global Hunger Index. The shame of chronic hunger and deprivation of food constitutes a damning indictment of the polices pursued by the UPA government and the earlier NDA regime. Both have steadfastly refused to introduce a universal public distribution system as it goes against the World Bank and market prescriptions. The Food Security law enacted by parliament is cited as a major step towards food security. This is not true. It continues with a targeted system. It provides for only 5 kg per individual per month. In urban areas 50 per cent of the people are excluded. The CPI(M) and the Left have consistently fought for a universal public Distribution System. We need to provide a minimum of 35 kg of foodgrains to all families at not more than Rs. 2 per kg. The citizen’s basic right to food has to be ensured.
Corruption & Mega Scams
The last one decade of UPA rule has set an unprecedented record for corruption with one mega scam after the other from the 2G spectrum to the coal allocation and the KG basin gas pricing. The government’s neo-liberal policies has spawned a nexus of big business-ruling politician-bureaucrats.
CAG has estimated that the 2G telecom has cost the exchequer Rs. 1.76 lakh crore while the coal scam around Rs. 1.86 lakh crore. The KG basin gas deal and the earlier concessions to Reliance for increased gas price had led to a loss of around Rs. 100,000 crore to the government. The current revision proposed by the government, is twice this amount. The Commonwealth Games scam was worth around Rs. 60,000 crore.
Contrary to the claim that privatization and free market reduce corruption, evidence shows that the “black economy” and the propagation of corruption has expanded under such policies, and is now almost 50 per cent of the GDP of the country. (Global Financial Integrity, 2010)
Resources that belong to the people are being looted through a range of corrupt practices. Illegal flows to tax havens and offshore accounts have grown rapidly along with black money; the post-reform annual flows are five times the pre-reform flows. The total accumulated capital and assets held by Indians abroad is estimated to be in the range of half a trillion dollars (Rs. 25 lakh crore) to 1.4 trillion dollars (Rs. 70 lakh crores).
The outrage among the people and the protest against corruption finally compelled the UPA government to bring an amended Lokpal legislation which was adopted in parliament. However, the Lokpal Act needs to bring within its purview the PPP projects and the contracts given out to corporates involving public funds. More importantly, the big business-politician-bureaucrat nexus spawned by the neo-liberal regime needs to be broken. The CPI(M) calls for the reversal of the neo-liberal policies which have spawned such a nexus.
Foreign Policy: Tilt to the US
The decade long UPA government has shifted the course of foreign policy towards a pro-US orientation. In the first term, it surrendered the independent basis of foreign policy by entering into a strategic alliance with the United States of America, military cooperation and signing the Indo-US nuclear deal. The consequence of these steps have unfolded in its second term.
India acted against its own interests by curtailing its relations with Iran. The Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline was scuttled at the behest of America. India drastically cut down oil imports from Iran to conform to the illegal US sanctions. India adopted an ambivalent stand on Syria and refused to condemn the Western backed forces to instigate a civil war and destabilize the Syrian government. India has strengthened its military and security ties with Israel and consequently downgraded its support to the Palestinian cause. The UPA government has joined a India-Japan-US trilateral security relationship – a US sponsored move to counter China.
India has not utilised its weight in the BRICS, IBSA and the multilateral forms to strengthen South-South cooperation and multipolarity.
The foreign policy stance of both the Congress and the BJP have to be rejected so that an independent foreign policy is charted out which is in tune with the country’s national interests.
Tweet Congress: Ignominious Record
The Congress-led UPA government has registered an ignominious record. Betrayal of the people’s trust by nurturing corruption among those who exercise power; pursuing policies which have resulted in perpetuating price rise and high inflation; turning its back on the millions of farmers who are unable to earn a decent livelihood; failure to take firm measures to curb communal forces; compromising national sovereignty by allying with the interests of the USA.
The Congress and the UPA have to be called to account for its misdeeds and ousted from the government.
Combat Communalism
Various communal forces have been active in fomenting communal tensions during the past five years. The aim of the Hindutva outfits is to create and widen divisions between Hindus and Muslims. From 2009, communal violence has occurred in Hyderabad, Nanded, Ahmedabad, Belgaum, Dhule, Bodoland territory, Kishtwar, Nawada, Barielly, Kosi Kalan, Pratapgarh, Faizabad and Muzzafarnagar. The list is endless. In Rajasthan, after the BJP lost power in 2008, a series of communal incidents took place in the following years. In Uttar Pradesh, after the Samajwadi Party government came to power in 2011, a number of riots erupted. The Muzaffarnagar violence was the worst in recent times. In most of these riots, there is the common pattern of the involvement of the RSS and its outfits.
The attacks on religious minorities, both Muslims and Christians grew in number and intensity under the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
In the year 2013, 828 communal incidents took place all over the country in which 133 people died and 2269 were injured. The truth is blunt and it cannot be ignored – such riots were manufactured to create a communal polarization to make electoral gains in the 16th Lok Sabha election. They are a warning to all secular democratic forces, that communal politics needs to be firmly countered with political will and determination. Only then can communal amity, people’s unity and progress be assured.
Terrorism
Terrorist attacks have continued to take place in different parts of the country. The source of terrorism is religious extremism of various varieties. While there are continuing instances of terrorist violence involving some extremist elements from the Muslim community, it was extremist Hindutva elements who were behind terrorist blasts in Malegaon, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharief and the Samjhauta Express. Ethnic chauvinist groups have indulged in terrorist violence in the North East.
There has to be a concerted campaign against the forces of religious extremism, communalism and chauvinism from which terrorist groups emanate. Firm measures have to be taken to preempt terrorist attacks and track down the terrorist networks. But the bias and targeting of innocent Muslim youth in the name of tackling terrorism should stop. Action should be taken against the security and police authorities who have implicated youth in false cases. The State should compensate those youth who were imprisoned for long periods of time and acquitted by courts. The draconian provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act should be removed.
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