• The Working Class and the Budget

• Down with the warmongering of the Indian state!
  Anglo-American Imperialists – Get out of South Asia!

• Trade Unions and the Budget

• Army Atrocities in Punjab and Rajasthan

• The National Agriculture Policy is a Violation of the Rights of the Tillers and of the Right of Every Indian to Food Security

• Delhi Government plans to Privatise Schools Showing Poor Results

• Delhi and the CNG saga
  Another Supreme Court Deadline Passes

• Highlights of the balance sheet of the drive against pollution in past years

• Kerala State Government Employees and Teachers on Strike

• Politics of a New Type: The Need of the Hour

• What is the Role of Voters in a Democracy?

• Crisis in Argentina
  Liberalization and Privatization Constitute a Road to Disaster

• UN’s Report on World Economic Situation and Prospects released Adverse Effects of Globalization

The Working Class and the Budget

This year’s budget is being discussed in conditions of world-wide recession, and the slowdown of Indian economy. The big bourgeoisie is demanding that state intensify attacks on the working class and peasantry and increase the handouts for the big bourgeoisie. The direct attacks on the working class and people are being carried out in two ways. One, by reducing the interest rates on savings and provident fund, the mass of workers and working people are being plundered to ensure handouts for the big bourgeoisie. Two, the notification to increase the taxnet by bringing in all fringe benefits of workers under taxable income means further squeezing for working people.

Therefore the working class agitates around the demand that the interest rates on Provident Fund and savings be restored to 1998-99 levels and the notification increasing the taxes of workers and working people by bringing fringe benefits under taxable income be immediately withdrawn. The working class demands that the government make a serious attempt to realise the loans advanced to big industrial houses by the nationalised banks. The government must seize the assets of these business houses if they refuse to return the loans.

The clash over labour laws is going to be acute during the discussion in parliament over the Union budget. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has promised the capitalists and imperialists the amending of the Industrial Dispute Act to facilitate easy closure and retrenchment as well as expanding the scope of contract labour by amending the Contract Labour Act. The justification: to make for increased competitiveness in the global market! Working class is opposing these amendments tooth and nail. The big bourgeoisie's lust for profits cannot be justified over the blood and bones of our workers.

The dismantling of the Public Distribution System is being followed by attacks on the livelihood of peasants in the name of eliminating subsidy to agriculture. This antisocial program must be opposed because it is not only against the interests of the urban and rural poor, and the peasantry, it is against the general interests of society.

The working class fights for security of livelihood—jobs and job security, health care and education, housing, food security and many other things. The productive forces of our country are at this stage so developed that it is possible and necessary to ensure livelihood for all able bodied men and women of town and countryside. It is both possible and necessary to ensure quality education and quality health care for all, as well as to ensure that no one is a victim of hunger, malnutrition and starvation in town and countryside.

The government has been threatening to greatly increase the war budget. Various international arms merchants as well as Indian big bourgeoisie are extremely excited by the prospect of increasing the plunder of the Indian workers and peasants and working people through the militarization of the economy. Competitive militarisation of India and Pakistan may suit the rulers of the two countries, as well as the imperialist arms merchants. It will have a disastrous consequence on our economy and the lives of the ordinary people. Hence, the working class demands cutbacks in military expenditure.

In sum, the working class must agitate around the following demands in connection with this years budget:

8. Cutback on the militarisation program and a moratorium on interest payments on external borrowings. Recovery of bad debts of the big capitalists to the nationalised banks as well as measures to confiscate black money. The deployment of the resources generated from these measures as well as the measure to abolish middlemen in trading, to ensure education, health security and food security.

Campaigning on the above demands, the working class must rally the peasantry, the middle strata, the women and youth around a common platform. The struggle over the budget must be used to advance the immediate as well as long term interests of the whole of society, which are in conflict with the narrow interests of the big bourgeoisie and foreign imperialism.

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Down with the warmongering of the Indian state!

Anglo-American Imperialists – Get out of South Asia!

Just like the US imperialists used the attacks of September 11, ’01 to justify their war in Afghanistan and the beginning of their crusade for the redivision of Asia, the attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13, ’01 provided the Indian ruling circles with the very pretext they needed to amplify their warmongering against Pakistan. Taking cue from the Anglo-American imperialists, the Indian state had already commenced the latest offensive on the rights of the working people, promulgating the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) and threatening to exterminate or incarcerate anyone who dared raise his voice as a "terrorist".

Following the December 13 attack, the Indian state has gone all out to raise its warmongering to a crescendo. The measures it took while doing so have hit the people of the region very hard. It suspended rail and road links with Pakistan, causing great difficulties to lakhs of people in both countries. It suspended over flights by civilian Pakistani aircraft, causing difficulties to the citizens of other South Asian countries as well, who could hitherto conveniently use Pakistani airlines to fly to Arab and European countries. The spiteful actions of the Indian ruling classes earned reproach from most of the leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC ) when they met in Kathmandu in January ’02.

As the governments of both India and Pakistan massed up troops along their common border, the imperialists readily rushed in – while Tony Blair visited early in January to peddle jet aircraft, and Colin Powell hopped over to play ‘referee’ , the Indian defence minister George Fernandes went over to the US with his long shopping list for billions of dollars worth of military hardware. The Pakistani regime also has gone about on an arms shopping splurge.

Indian government sources gleefully claim that Indian military mobilization is putting a great strain on Pakistan’s finances. It is reported that just a month-long mobilization of Pakistan’s armed forces, to counter Indian military mobilization, will cost between US $ 400 mn to
600 mn, at least Rs 25 billion! Indian diplomats have reportedly told their Western counterparts that India’s military mobilization is expected to "bleed Pakistan white", besides keeping up the threat of war. The mobilization of India’s military apparently would cost even more than what Pakistan would have to bear, but the Indian rulers have more funds at their disposal. On both sides of the border however, it is the toiling people who are being bled white to finance the warmongering of their rulers.

While the toiling people are thus being bled white, the rulers have gone about their "business as usual". The Anglo-American imperialists are losing no opportunity to meddle herein, now appearing to favour one side and now the other, but entrenching themselves and their dastardly military and intelligence agencies ever more surely into the region. The Indian Prime Minister has said, firstly, that there can be no talks with Pakistan until "cross border terrorism" stops. Who is to decide what is meant by that term and which armed outfit has committed what crime? And secondly, that talks with Pakistan would only be on the topic of "return of Pakistan occupied Kashmir to India" a condition which obviously cannot be agreed to by any Pakistani ruler today. The Indian Prime Minister is thus making it clear that they intend continuing with their standoff as long as they like.

Millions of people in both countries, especially in the border regions, are being put to tremendous hardships by the massing up of troops. As the rulers of India have made amply clear on several occasions in the recent past, the threat of war is still very real. This war would add to the already heavy burden on the toiling peoples of both countries, besides claiming the precious lives of so many of the fraternal peoples. Whatever the outcome of such a reactionary war, the benefactors could only be the rulers of both countries and the Anglo-American and other powers which choose to meddle in the region. The misery of the toiling people would greatly increase.

People’s Voice condemns the warmongering of the Indian state and the insidious activities of the Anglo-American imperialists.

NO to War!
Anglo-American imperialists, get out of South Asia!

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Trade Unions and the Budget

Leaders of AITUC, BMS, CITU, HMS, UTUC, UTUC (LS) and TUCC have raised the following demands in a joint memorandum submitted to the Union Finance Minister:

CITU has expressed concern that as in the past, none of the concerns or demands of the trade unions will find reflection in the Union Budget. In this connection, CITU has in a separate memorandum asked the Union Finance Minister to issue a report as to action taken on the recommendations of various interest groups.

The above Central Trade Unions have also called for an All India Protest Day on March 14,2002. They will organise joint demonstrations on that day throughout the country to express opposition to: 1) privatisation; 2) changing labour laws in favour of employers; 3) removal on quantitative restrictions on exports which are detrimental to Indian industry, agriculture and the country as a whole; 4) policies leading to severe aggravation of job losses and increase in unemployment and 5) attempts to scuttle the enactment of a comprehensive central legislation for agricultural workers.

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Army Atrocities in Punjab and Rajasthan

Our families coming back from the border have been traumatised by incidents of rape of young girls and women by armymen deployed there. When the people demanded an explanation from the army authorities, a senior officer pleaded helplessness. He instead asked all the villagers to evacuate all young girls to the interior, and leave only the menfolk and old women in the border areas! Again, in the border areas, troops have established their camps right inside the villages and insisted that families stay around so that the military presence is hidden from the Pakistani forces. People have been forced to leave behind their cattle. How can families with young girls live in the same area with criminally lustful troops camping in their midst?

Our friends and relatives in Nohar report that similar happenings have taken place in the Ganganagar District and the entire population is terrorised. Army has been deployed for a stretch of 140 km from the border. Girls have been raped and killed. Troops carry out day time searches allegedly looking for "terrorists", but in fact identifying property to loot and girls to fulfil their lust. Sure enough, they come back in the night to loot and rape! An entire panchayat demonstrated after one such incident, but the authorities seem hellbent on hushing up these incidents and defending the culprits.

I would like your paper to highlight the terrible acts of the army against our own people in order to put a stop to such heinous activities.
Gopal
Sirsa

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The National Agriculture Policy is a Violation of the Rights of the Tillers and of the Right of Every Indian to Food Security

If looked at superficially, the National Agriculture Policy (NAP) had very laudable objectives, namely: to attain a four per cent annual growth in agricultural production and enhanced levels of efficiency of input use consistent with environmental sustainability. But if one delves deeply into the essence of the policy, one can only come to the conclusion that what the NAP is really aimed at is the stepping up of the corporatisation of agriculture, i.e., allowing monopoly capitalist forces the unbridled right to play havoc with the livelihood of millions of farmers and with food security.

The agricultural sector is an important segment of the Indian economy. It contributes 27.4% of the GDP of the country, employs 64% of the nation's workforce and accounts for 10% share of the value of the country's exports. Many studies and reality point out that the economic reforms initiated by the ruling class in the nineties have bred only further inequality and deprivation.

While productivity in agriculture and food production increased tremendously during the green revolution, and the country was no longer dependent on imports, today there are an estimated 204 million undernourished people out of a total population of 1 billion. This means that though food production has increased and millions of tonnes of foodgrains are rotting in the godowns, a large section of the population is hungry and undernourished.

Foodgrain production has increased over the years. But, the small and medium peasants suffer from lack of storage facilities. This keeps the peasant under stress forcing him to make distress sales. The peasants are deprived of basic infrastructural facilities like storage, processing and refrigerated transport.

Peasants also suffer from a stable procurement policy. Wheat and paddy farmers have been severely affected by the curtailment of procurement by the central government due to unsold stocks and lack of storage facilities. During the past years, the minimum support price offered by the government has barely met the cost of inputs of peasants. Peasants producing other agricultural products such as cotton, tobacco, potato and so on are not guaranteed timely procurement or stable procurement prices.

The spate of suicides by farmers in Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and other states during the past couple of years is proof that the small and marginal farmers and even the medium farmers are heavily indebted. The indebtedness has greatly increased with the credit cards for agriculture introduced in the last budget. In the drought affected areas of Rajasthan, for instance, peasants are dreading the sword of the collector which is due in March-April, while banks are making announcements of when the payments are due through loudspeakers on the streets. The coming two months will see the recovery drive of the banks from the farmers and the consequences on the farmers who cannot pay back their debts.

While the granaries were overflowing with food stocks, several parts of the country suffered from famines. In Rajasthan, more than 23,000 villages were affected by famine in 1999. There has been no rain in huge belts of that state since then for three years in succession and the fields are dry. In Andhra Pradesh, many villages in Rayalaseema and Telengana were affected by famine.

The Crop Insurance Schemes announced by the bourgeoisie with big fanfare have failed miserably. The schemes are confined to a minuscule section of farmers. Small and marginal peasants have been completely ignored by the credit and insurance institutions because of their low capacity to pay.

During the nineties the Public Distribution System literally collapsed due to the policies of the ruling class to reduce state food support to the poor. There are 5.41 lakh fair price shops distributing commodities to about 180 million households. The fair price shops are now being dismantled throwing vast sections of the working people to the mercy of the open market. During the liberalisation phase, the offtake from the PDS has gone down from 207 lakh tonnes to 191 tonnes, in spite of the increase in population.

The reduction in food subsidies and fertiliser subsidies under pressure from the World Bank, IMF and WTO have affected the marginalized sections of the peasantry most. Quoting a study on stable crop yields and sliding farm profits, experts at the Punjab Agricultural University apprehend that marginal and small farmers and farmers who opt for lease farming are being severely hit by rising input costs.

The economic policies being proposed by imperialist countries in the WTO under the Intellectual Property Rights agreement aims at getting agricultural raw material at cheap rates from the poorer countries and to trample on the rights of indigenous producer communities in these countries. The new patent regime proposed by the WTO gives rights to big monopoly breeders and aims to prevent farmers from using their own seeds.

Indian peasants are also being threatened by bio-piracy and patenting of indigenous knowledge. The WTO patent regime which is most unfavourable to peasants of the economically developing countries allows theft of creativity and innovation of domestic farming communities by big multinationals. Also, the exclusive rights established by patents on knowledge pose a great threat to the livelihood of peasants which is based on their indigenous biodiversity and knowledge. Several cases of bio-piracy of neem, haldi, amla, basmati, ginger, karela and jamun are already being contested by Indian peasants. The signing of the TRIPs agreement by the Indian government in the WTO has severely threatened the survival of peasants.

Food production has reached a plateau today primarily because the Indian state of the big bourgeoisie has been reducing its investments in public works and irrigation, leaving it to the private sector profiteers. If food production is to improve, crop production in the drylands has to be increased through water conservation, and drought resistant seeds. Seventy percent of agricultural land in India is the poor peasant's rainfed and dryland agricultural land. During the entire ninth plan period there was no provision for new irrigation projects. Productivity in rainfed areas, marginal lands, saline and water logged soil is very low. Production and productivity can improve only if state investments are made to develop these areas. Out of 128 million hectares of land under foodgrains, only 32.7% is presently irrigated forcing farmers to invest in tubewells leading to the depletion of the water table to dangerously low levels. An effective cropping pattern in the interest of small and marginal farmers has to be encouraged by providing technology, inputs and services to the peasantry at affordable costs. Only after agriculture meets domestic food and nutrition demands must foodgrains allowed to be exported. Otherwise free trade in agriculture, within and outside the country, will benefit only the very rich farmers, monopoly traders and the agri-business conglomerates.

According to official statistics, the share of agriculture and irrigation in public investment has been declining for many years now (see Chart). The bourgeoisie wants to blame the farmers for this, with the argument that resources for the creation of assets have been diverted into subsidies of various kinds—food, fertilizers, water, power and so on. Cut down the subsidies to agriculture! This is the call of the champions of liberalisation and privatisation. This is the spirit that guides the NAP.

While unproductive investments in arms and ammunition are being stepped up and the interest outflow has been piling up every year, the bourgeoisie wails that money spent on ensuring food security and the wellbeing of the tillers of the land is a drain on the economy!

In summary, Indian agriculture is in crisis. Past policies of the ruling class have benefited only a minuscule section of farmers and big traders, capitalists and multinationals. What is the way out of this crisis?

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Delhi Government plans to Privatise Schools Showing Poor Results

Educationists, socially concerned people, parents as well as officials of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) have widely condemned this proposed move of the Delhi government. Firstly, this move is an open and shameless admission by the state, of its inability to provide even basic education to children, up to the senior secondary level. Secondly, it is a declaration that the state will completely wash its hands off the responsibility of providing even basic school education.

Some years ago, the government declared that it could no longer continue to subsidise higher education in colleges and universities. Blaming the students educated in these institutions for "not serving the country and instead seeking jobs outside the country", the government steadily cut back on the funds for these institutions. The result of this move of the government was the steady decline of some of the hitherto best colleges and universities in the country as well as the proliferation of private colleges and technical institutions, run by various capitalist trusts, charging exorbitant fees and providing degrees of dubious worth. Justifying its move, the government had said at that time, that these funds would be used to concentrate on basic school education, in particular, primary education. Now the Delhi government is ready to give up this responsibility as well.

Let us examine some of the implications of this proposed move of the Delhi government.

Cost of education

The government claims that it is unable to bear the cost of educating the children. According to government estimates, the cost of providing school education to a single child is about Rs. 800, while the fees paid by one student is about Rs. 4. Now the government proposes to pay half this cost, i.e. Rs. 400 while the private trust that takes over the school will pay the rest, and a fees of Rs. 100 will be charged per student. To justify this, the government claims that "free education is not valued".

This constitutes a big attack on children from the poorer sections of society, the children from the families of workers and ordinary working people. The directive principles of our Constitution say that the state shall endeavour to provide free and compulsory education to children. Further, the government recently passed the ‘right to education’ bill, declaring education for all children between the ages of 6-14 a fundamental right. How is this right going to be ensured if more and more children are unable to afford this sudden, steep rise in the cost of education?

Conditions of the teaching staff

SCERT director, Ms. Janaki Rajan has condemned this move of the government to privatise the government schools, as an outright attack on the teaching staff. The interests of the "teachers will be sacrificed", she says, as "private managements will recruit teachers on a hire-and-fire basis".

Blaming teachers for the poor academic performance of students in government schools, the government is now proposing to the private managements that will take over these schools, that the annual increments to teachers be linked with the academic performance of their students. Representatives of some of the private managements that have shown interest in taking over some of these schools have also clearly stated that they cannot pay the teachers the government pay scales, but instead will pay them according to lower pay scales, arbitrarily set by the management.

Further, the private managements have also stated that they would be selecting their own teaching staff. The government promises to try to adjust some of the existing teachers in these schools, in other government-run schools, but clearly, a large majority of the existing teachers face the possibility of losing their jobs. These constitute a big attack on teachers.

Prospects for students

According to the existing rules, it is mandatory for government schools to admit all children from a specified neighbourhood, without exception. These schools therefore are the only source of any kind of education for the children of the poor, who aspire for education but are unable to afford the high fees in public schools.

It is an acknowledged fact that one of the reasons for the poor academic performance in many of the government-run schools at present, is the poverty and difficult living conditions of the majority of students in these schools. In most cases, these are children who live in slums or poor tenements, with many family members sharing a single room, often without electricity. The children, especially the girls, usually have to help in the household chores such as fetching water, cooking and looking after the younger children. Many of these children have to work part-time to supplement the family income. Most of them are first generation learners and therefore can expect little or no assistance from their families in their education. The government-run schools suffer from lack of facilities for teaching and extra curricular activities as well as adequate teaching staff. Under these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that these children are not able to show good academic performance.

Responding to the government’s proposal to privatise these schools, many educationists have expressed the apprehension that once the private management takes over these schools, they will also demand autonomy in selecting students for admission, in order to ensure good academic performance, just like any other privately run public school. In other words, they will admit only those students who have the "potential" to be good academic performers and who can pay the enhanced fees that these managements will charge. Only the children from a financially better-off social background, who can be ensured of an environment at home conducive to academic pursuit and a lot of inputs in the form of books and tuitions, will be selected for admission in these schools, while the children from poorer backgrounds who aspire for education will have nowhere to go. The experience of certain schools in Indore and Ahmedabad, which were earlier run by the government, but have now been taken over by private managements with the claim that they will "improve academic performance", points in this direction.

Principals and teachers of the government schools have condemned this proposed move of the government, citing lack of funds, lack of incentives and promotional avenues for teachers, non-availability of basic infrastructure, furniture, toilets and drinking water, classrooms (many of these schools function in tents or out in the open) as some of the factors leading to poor academic performance in these schools. They have also criticised the high degree of bureaucratic interference and control in matters of recruitment of staff and provision of funds and facilities in these schools.

All these facts clearly show that no matter which political party or coalition has been in the government, the state has been steadily abdicating its responsibility of providing a good quality, wholesome education to the younger generation. This reality is totally contrary to the periodic claims of the state that it is striving to provide "education for all". The recent proposal of the government to privatise the government-run schools once again shows that it is not interested in improving the conditions of the society but only in maximising the profits of the big capitalists and industrial houses.

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Delhi and the CNG saga
Another Supreme Court Deadline Passes

Meanwhile, there has been an uproar over the Mashelker Committee recommendations on what is the least polluting fuel. According to the report of the Committee, the criterion of pollution should not be the use of a particular type of fuel, but actual checking of whether a vehicle is emitting polluting substances beyond a certain norm. The report of the Committee, which is supposed to be a high powered scientific committee, effectively means that the Supreme Court inspired drive to ensure that all public vehicles in the capital are CNG fuel powered is flawed. To avoid a potential conflict between the Delhi government and the Supreme Court has become an issue in the ruling circles.

Opponents of the Mashelkar Committee recommendations allege 1) that these recommendations have been inspired by certain business houses in the vehicle manufacturing sector who feel their markets threatened as a result of the drive to CNG and 2) Actual monitoring of vehicle emission in different vehicles will be a practical difficulty. Auto and taxi owners as well as bus owners in Delhi who have invested huge sums in converting their vehicles to CNG or in buying new vehicles are also feeling stabbed in the back by the Mashelkar Report. They feel they have been taken for a ride by the central and state governments and the Supreme Court and their hard earned moneys have been stolen. Prof. Mashelkar has clarified that CNG should remain the fuel for Delhi. This is aimed at stalling a possible confrontation between the Central executive and the Supreme Court. However, reading between the lines, it is clear that in the other metropolitan cities, CNG will not be imposed at this time, which makes the entire CNG drama a tragi-comedy of Tughlakian proportions, with the people the victims.

Delhi is considered to be the most polluted city in the country, with the highest level of vehicular pollution out of all the metros. Of course, there are environmental reasons for this, as the proximity to the sea in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai contributes to a daily clearing of the air. But there are also important man-made reasons for this. The number of cars in Delhi is greater than the total number of cars in all the other metros put together. This is also true for two wheelers. The reasons for this are not far to seek. The most important one is that Delhi has a totally inadequate public transportation system. The privatisation of public transport over the past decade and more has been a major contributory factor to the mushrooming of private vehicles.

In this situation, the pro-people and far sighted solution would have been to invest more in public transport, but this is against the policy of the ruling governments at the center and the state. The policy of the central and state governments is to ensure that state intervention must increase the profits of Indian and foreign private interests.

The Supreme Court has often declared that economic policy decisions are beyond its purview. However, it would seem that on the question of pollution, where too economic interests of different classes are involved, the Supreme Court has not been averse to intervening. For instance, owners of diesel vehicles have alleged, an allegation supported by the Delhi government, that certain key players in the CNG conversion industry as well as international vehicle manufacturing lobbies are behind the drive to ensure CNG dominates in Delhi. At the risk of invoking contempt of court, we would be forced to conclude that the Supreme Court is acting as the arbiter between different capitalist interests in the vehicle manufacturing industry, and the interests of the victims of pollution—the entire population. In addition, the interests of the working masses who are directly losing their livelihood have not been protected.

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Highlights of the balance sheet of the drive against pollution in past years

• In the drive that began five years back, many small industries have been closed down or shifted to Himachal Pradesh to pollute that beautiful state, as the Supreme Court orders are applicable only to Delhi. Many workers have lost their livelihood, many small businesses closed down.
• Owners of autos, taxis and buses have had to shell out huge sums to convert their vehicles into CNG. Many small transporters as well as auto and taxi drivers have lost their livelihood.
• Certain industrial groups having connections in the central or state governments have made a killing in the conversion into CNG. There has been a boost to the crisis ridden auto industry, as people have been forced to dispose off their old vehicles and buy new ones.
• Delhi continues to remain the most polluted city in India, as there is still no plan for a cheap, effective and an all encompassing public transportation system. The much promised Delhi Metro, as and when the "dream comes true", will not serve the needs of more than a very small part of the working population of Delhi, as it will connect only parts of Central Delhi and North Delhi, but will leave untouched the vast population of East, West and South Delhi and well as other suburbs of the national Capital Region.

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Kerala State Government Employees
and Teachers on Strike

The policy that the Kerala government is following is in line with the liberalization and privatisation reforms which are being pushed throughout India to increase the profits of the Indian and foreign big bourgeoisie. India ranks one of the lowest in terms of the standards of living of her people. Yet the government is withdrawing whatever little benefits and subsidies that existed for the people. Last year Kerala government gave permission for private schools and colleges to start in the state. This includes engineering, pharmacy and other colleges. This is clearly a prelude to undermining the state run schools and colleges. It is a move for the state to abdicate its responsibility to provide education to the citizens. Kerala stood out amongst the Indian states for its higher literacy rate. With the changes that have been brought about, the literacy rate is bound to take a severe blow in the future.

Government wants to wash its hands off any responsibility of providing security and prosperity to the toiling people. At the same time, it is doing everything to extend huge subsidies to the big capitalists. The Chief Minister has already hinted that the state government would like to woo private investors from outside. According to his logic, the investments will flow only if the state becomes more attractive for investment. That is to say that the government wants to create the conditions whereby the exploitation of the people of Kerala could be further intensified.

All sections of the people, are unhappy about the callous attitude the State government has been taking regarding their problems. Now that the teachers and the government employees have gone on strike to defend their livelihood, suddenly, the government is concerned that it has not been doing enough for farmers and other poor people. Not a day passes by when the chief minister does not proclaim that the "employees are waging a struggle against the people of the state!" The motive is clear —the government wants to drive a wedge between different sections of the people. It does not want different sections of the people to unite in struggle for the defence of their rights and livelihood.

Kerala government has already dismissed as many as 20 government employees for joining the strike. It has invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the striking employees. In a move to break the unity of the striking employees, it has declared that ESMA will be used in a phased manner starting from the middle rung management. By targeting a particular section of the striking employees it wants to scare that section into submission. The working people , on the other hand, are also forging their unity in this struggle. Already various other sections of the working people, notably all the trade unions, cutting across the party line, have gone on strike to show their solidarity with the state employees’ struggle.

What is becoming increasingly clear from the life experience of many is that the government is not responsive to the needs of the people. It wants to push through its policies regardless of opposition from the people. Only if the political power vests with the people, can the conditions be created for where the security and prosperity of all working people can be guaranteed. What is necessary is the broadest unity in defence of the livelihood of the people. The strike struggle of the teachers and state government employees deserves the support of all the toiling sections of India.

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Politics of a New Type: The Need of the Hour

Statement of the Lok Raj Sangathan on the occasion of the elections to the Thane Municipal Corporation

Citizens!

We have not come to you to ask you to vote for this or that political party. We are putting before you a novel program for becoming active in politics.

Prices are rising while real incomes are falling. Unemployment is soaring and job security has vanished. Social services like health services, education, transport, etc. are being starved of funds. Civic facilities are increasingly unavailable. Due to such problems, the lives of us common people are becoming ever more difficult. It is in these circumstances that the elections of the Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra are being held.

Big leaders have again started coming to us with the same well-worn promises of the last fifty years. All over the country, the common people are fed up with the treachery of the big political parties and their leaders. As a result of this, some people have been thinking that it is better to stay away from elections and politics. However some valiant and thoughtful people have become more active in politics. On their own or in the form of "Nagrik Aghadis" (Peoples’ Fronts) they are challenging the anti-people politics of the big political parties by developing a pro-people political alternative.

Fellow citizens of Thane, we appeal to all of you to develop an alternative to challenge the anti-people politics of the big political parties that are in the interests of the handful of the super-rich. Lok Raj Sangathan has taken up this challenge, and we appeal to you to contribute to this worthy effort.

The biggest problem with the present electoral process is that we common people have no role in deciding who should be the candidates. This is why the "High Commands" of various big political parties can impose criminal, corrupt candidates on us. This is why thouse found guilty by the Nandlal Committee are proudly contesting the elections to the Thane Municipal Corporation.

This is why we should fight for the demand that in future only voters should have the right to select candidates, to decide who can contest the elections.

" After voting in the election, our role is over"- this is the prevailing notion. But we should defeat this notion.

We should keep the representative who wins the election under our control.

"How do we do that?", you may wonder. To do this, we should take the following steps before elections:

The question of voting for any candidate belonging to a big political party does not arise, because such a person is always the candidate and hence the representative of his party, and not of the people. Apart from these candidates, if the other candidates are willing to remain under the control of the Area Committees as outlined above, we are sure that you will carefully check up on their past and future and select the appropriate candidate. However this is not where our work ends, for this is not enough to achieve our ends.

We should see to it that the corporator places before us every month the proceeds of the meetings of the Municipal Corporation, the resolutions, tenders, contracts, report, budget and accounts. In this way we will immediately know whether or not the money of the Municipal Corporation, and not just the corporator’s fund, is spent for the people or not. If it is not, then we will be able to stop the anti-people plans in time, by taking the support of other citizens in the ward.

Most citizens would agree that every family should get enough water and food from the ration shops, free education for everyone born within the Corporation limits, a good public transport system, medical services at affordable rates, etc. Most citizens would agree with the new definition of development, that the development of the services providing basic necessities to the common man is the development of Thane.

Most of us would insist that the services and assets of the Municipal Corporation should not be privatized. All those citizens of Thane who feel that the work of the Thane Municipal Corporation should be in the direction of maximizing the well being of the people by taking measures such as these, should firmly take all the steps outlined above, before, during and after the elections.

On behalf of the Lok Raj Sangathan we appeal to all the citizens of Thane and to the pro-people organizations—Come, let us actively participate in the development of a new type of politics! 

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What is the Role of Voters in a Democracy?

Public discussion organized by the Lok Raj Sangathan, Thane

The Convener of Lok Raj Sangathan, Maharashtra, Girish Bhave, initiated the discussion. The essence of his presentation follows:

"Today the political participation of citizens is restricted to voting. This narrow definition of the voters’ role serves the rulers who want to keep the praja in the dark. If the raj is to be run in favour of the people, the people will have to run it. How should the society be run? This is the central question in politics, and the people ought to have a decisive role in settling that.

This concept is not new in India. In the olden days, the system of Lokayat or people’s rule prevailed, and its fossils can be seen to this day. Go to any working class area of Mumbai. You will see people organized in mandals on the basis of their village of origin. These institutions are run in a very democratic way.

Being active in politics does not mean being active only in the municipal corporation or in the Vidhan Sabha. It means deciding the direction in which the country is run, deciding its policies. People should have a role in this, but today there is no mechanism for that. On the contrary, when people make their opinion very clear, in no uncertain terms, as has happened in the case of Enron in Maharashtra or the New Economic Policy in the country, they are told that all this is not your concern; that their so-called representatives have a right to decide on their behalf. Many a time, important decisions seriously affecting each and every one of us are taken even without consulting the parliament, by a handful of ministers and bureaucrats.

Sometimes people tell us that all that you are saying is fine, but it is very impractical. We do not have the time to participate in politics. But is this really true? Think of the enormous amount of time you spend in all sorts of queues. And the poorer a person is, the more time he has to spend. If people had power in their hands, all this would not be required. Think of the many people forced out of their jobs on one pretext or the other. If people had power, this would not happen. Can we afford not to have time to participate in politics?

Then there are others who say that these thoughts are fine, but the time has not yet come. This again is not true. Almost all over the world, people are dissatisfied with the prevailing political system. All big political parties have lost their credibility.

In many places all over the country, including here in Thane, people have started taking the initiative and putting up their candidates, because the candidates put up by the political parties do not represent the interests of the people. This is very good. A couple of these candidates are here before us today. The work is not easy, but then any social change is not easy. Our work does not stop after elections. After the elections, we have to keep up the pressure on the representative to do what we, the people want."

The presentation elicited a lot of discussion. Everyone agreed that mechanisms for controlling the representatives have to be created. Committees that would demand accountability from the representative should be established. It was agreed that such watchdog committees would be established in as many wards as possible.

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Crisis in Argentina

Liberalization and Privatization Constitute a Road to Disaster

The crisis in Argentina is so severe that a state of emergency had to be declared in December 2001 by the then President Fernando de la Rua. However, people were so angry with the deterioration of their living conditions that they came out on to the streets in militant protests. In spite of police actions, in which at least seven people were killed and hundreds were detained, the mass protests could not be suppressed. President Rua had to resign and flee, using a helicopter, as the protests were taking place
right outside the Government building. The first announcement of the next President, Mr. Rodriguez Saa, was to declare a moratorium on the staggering US$132,000,000,000 (132 billion) foreign debt, in order to contain the protests. The annual debt servicing payment itself amounts to more than 10 billion dollars a year.

The road that Argentina was following was the road followed by the so-called Asian tiger economies of East Asia, which collapsed a few years ago. It was the same road that India has been following since the reforms of 1991. Typically, it consists of privatisation of hitherto public enterprises, cutting down and removal of subsidised services to agriculture and the urban poor, removal of barriers to foreign investments, imports and exports, easy hire and fire of labour, etc. All the countries that follow this path typically receive massive loans from the neo-colonial financial institutions headed by the World Bank and IMF. The crisis in Argentina once again shows that the "aid" and credits that are channelled through these institutions can at most postpone, but not prevent the disaster. In fact, they pave the way for bigger disasters.

The justification of the imperialist spokesmen is that liberalisation would make the world market more open to international trade and investments, which would allegedly benefit the rich as well as poor countries. And privatisation will allegedly make them more competitive. The disastrous experience of so many countries, however, shows that the facts are otherwise. Instead of accelerated economic growth leading to prosperity for the people, the road of liberalisation and privatisation brings large-scale unemployment and multiplication of poverty, along with increasing imperialist domination and financial stranglehold. It leads to massive destruction of the productive forces. The overall effect is to depress the standard of living of the masses of people. Only the biggest domestic and foreign capitalists benefit from this orientation of the economy.

The rulers of India are pursuing this orientation and policy package without regard to the dangers that are in store for the masses of people and the economy. It is imperative for the Indian working class and people to learn from the experience of other countries. The direction of the Indian economy must be reversed so as to fulfil the material and spiritual needs of the masses of people.

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UN’s Report on World Economic Situation and Prospects released
Adverse Effects of Globalization

The UN Report on World Economic Situation and Prospects predicts that the Gross World Product (GWP) will grow by 1.5 per cent in 2002 compared to 1.3 per cent last year. However, even this modest improvement depends on the recovery in the economy of the United States. The economic crisis in Japan and the bankruptcy of the Argentinian economy are additional factors which will be influencing the economies of many countries around the world.

If the UN prediction turns out to be right, for 2 years in a row the GWP growth will be lagging the world population growth. Already several countries have experienced a fall in output in 2001. On a per capita basis, output and income have had a setback in East and West Asia and Latin America. These setbacks have pushed many more millions of people below the poverty line. In the first two years of the new millennium the world's people have become poorer!

According to the UN Report, economically developing countries and countries affected by internal and external disturbances are facing the main brunt of the world capitalist crisis. But, the recovery in the economies of these countries must wait for recovery in the imperialist countries, because globalization and increasing penetration of imperialist capital have made these economies totally dependent and subservient to the big powers. International trade is expected to be stagnant. Foreign Direct Investment in these countries will drop further because the flow of capital is driven by the logic of maximum profit.

The UN Report says that the key to restoring the flow of foreign capital is the restoration of economic growth in these countries by further liberalisation and globalization. This is absurd logic. It totally negates the fact that capitalism is riven by objective internal contradictions which result in cycles of overproduction and underproduction. In a situation of production growth, internal and foreign capital flow into these economies. In a situation of slowdown or depression, capital flows away from these economies. This is a vicious loop where the crisis gets aggravated with each successive cycle, commensurate with the volume of capital and the labour power it uses. The suggestion by the UN Report that if the economically developing countries liberalise their regulatory mechanisms further they can come out of the crisis is based on totally false and misleading assumptions.

The Report also points out that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows from the imperialist countries has fallen dramatically in 2001, because cross-border mergers and acquisitions have halved in this year. This reiterates the fact that most foreign capital flowing into the economically developing countries does not go into developing the productive capacities of these countries. The capital is deployed by multinationals and transnationals to gobble up locally owned enterprises and capture a share of the domestic market.

Summing up the effects of liberalisation and globalization, the report says that there has been an asymmetric impact, with most economically developing countries "tending to benefit less than the leading developed economies in the upturns, but suffering equally, or more so, in the downturns". While recommending that a long-term agenda has to be pursued "that seeks to ensure that developing countries can participate more effectively in a globalized world economy", the report is silent on exactly how to go about this.

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