View from the Left

A 8216;no8217; to Pension Bill

People8217;s Democracy quotes CITU, the trade union wing of the CPM, as saying that the note on the PFRDA Bill circulated during the UPA-Left coordination meeting on November 21 could not be accepted unless the Bill included suggestions made by the Left parties in their dissenting notes on the Bill. In what could lead to a prolonged debate on the issue, CITU says while some suggestions of the parliamentary standing committee that vetted the Bill had been incorporated in the note circulated to Left parties, their suggestions had been ignored. CITU8217;s two main objections are, as the trade union sees, the government8217;s move to take no further responsibility of government servants on their retirement and exposing their savings to the 8220;vagaries of the market8221;.

Maoists and ideological deviation

Sitaram Yechury8217;s article 8216;CPI Maoist violence: Revolutionary or anarchist8217; strongly criticises the Maoist violence in Jehanabad and elsewhere, pointing out that the killings in 80 per cent of cases were not of so-called police informers as claimed by the Maoists but ordinary people, or those from rival Naxalite groups who became victims of an internecine struggle. He criticises efforts to equate such killings with Left extremism and then denouncing communism as fostering a cult of violence. The CPM8217;s position, he says, is that change should be brought through peaceful means and by developing a powerful 8220;mass revolutionary movement8221; but always staying vigilant because the ruling classes do not give up power voluntarily. Social transformation in India can neither replicate the Chinese or the Russian experiences.

Aftermath of PM8217;s JNU visit

The students protest during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh8217;s visit to Jawaharlal Nehru University on Nehru8217;s birth anniversary evidently worked up enough heat for the party organ to come up with a full page report on the issue. According to the writer, it was decided at a council meeting of the university8217;s students8217; union to present memoranda to the PM against the foreign, economic and educational policies of the government and also raise student-related issues. However, AISA the union president is an AISA member went back on its word, according to the writer, to support a 8220;Manmohan Singh go back8221; call which led to the disruptions during the PM8217;s visit. The report also highlights the intensely political nature of students8217; movement in the university. There are allegations of how NSUI, the students wing of the Congress is trying to take advantage of the situation.

Oil sector union

Workers from top oil PSUs met at the foundation conference of the Petroleum and Gas Workers8217; Federation at Haldia earlier this month to form a joint front against moves to privatise oil PSUs and curb trade union activities. Members of leading trade unions from the petroleum and energy sectors abroad were also present at the conference and they have now decided to launch an 8216;International Federation of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Workers8217;.

Tailpiece

On the benefits of land reforms in West Bengal, Sitaram Yechury told the Association of Indian Communists in London that with the increase in agricultural productivity has come an increase in the purchasing power of the people, with the expanding market attracting foreign investment to West Bengal.

Compiled by Ananda Majumdar