Problems affecting the people

Nava Kerala March is now in Kozhikode district. What is witnessed in the march through out Kozhikode is an increased confluence of people than that of the unprecedented one of Wayanad district. Elders in the party and the members of martyr families were available in all the venues, confidently weathering all the adverse conditions and even physical attacks. All the participants of the march are emotionally overwhelmed when mothers who fed the revolutionary heroes are coming forward to bless the march.

Former comrades who were beedi workers were met in centres like Thalassery. They are the ones with the movement through out its ups and downs. Their face reflected their determination that they are coming not only for making the march a success but also for defending the party from the attacks it is facing. The problems faced by beedi workers are umpteen. The crisis of beedi industry has affected thousands of families. All the units in this sector, including Dinesh Beedi, is in difficulty. Tens of thousands of beedi workers are finding it difficult to pass each day. LDF government is duty bound to protect them. Measures from Central and State Governments to rehabilitate the beedi workers is overdue.

Massive participation of farmers are witnessed all these days. Many problems of agrarian sector including that of the Crisis of pepper farmers have drawn the attention of the march. The root cause of agrarian crisis is the very wrong policies. Central Govt is doing away with subsidies for seeds and fertilizers. Import liberalisation leads to the situation where farmers are not getting reasonable prices for our products.

It is this policy that converted Indian farming sector into a scene of mass scale suicide of the farmers. Central Govt was compelled to declare certain packages only over the pressure from the people increased due to the prevailing situation. But the problems are such that it couldnot be solved by packages. What is important is the need to change the policy itself. Left parties are fighting for changing this policy.

But, Manmohan govt is going ahead with more harmful policies. The seed bill introduced by the Manmohan Govt leads the agriculture sector to its ruin. This bill takes away the right of the farmers to produce, sell, exchange or barter. Production of all sorts of seeds will be brought under the monopoly of the corporates. Seed prices will shoot up. Govt is not inclined even to amend the provisions in accordance with the recommendations of the parliament standing committee. Bill is only kept in abeyance on the face of stiff resistance from the left parties.

The final report of the National Agricultural Commission is before the UPA government. The report puts forward the recommendations like one acre of land for each of the landless farmers, reduced interest rates for agricultural loans, spreading the public distribution network, formation of a price stabilisation fund to arrest the price fall of agricultural produces, determination of institutional loans, bringing interest rate below 4% etc. But the UPA lead Central Government is sticking on to its cosmetic touches with packages instead of implementing the report.

The neglect and indifference shown by the UPA government towards the agricultural sector is an injustice to the nation as a whole. The challenges of food security can only be faced by addressing the basic issues faced by agricultural sector. Nava Kerala March is bring such lively issues to the attention of the people. A question raised in the media meet organised just before the commencement of march at Mukkam was whether the march is deviating from the declared slogans. All the speakers in the march are explaining various issues faced by the nation and the state and the stand of the party thereon based on the slogan “Secure India, Prosperous State”. The question was one that could be raised by those looking for controversy ignoring the real issues placed by the speakers. But, no such doubts are there for the thousands of people who receives the march with enthusiasm. They are listening to the problems faced by them even by weathering the sun for hours together. It is evident from the experience, so far, that this will become the biggest ever mass political education program Kerala has ever witnessed, by the time it is concluded at Trivandrum on 25-02-2009.