CPI(M) admits flaw in treasury management

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUNE 2. The CPI(M) State committee has admitted that the Nayanar Government's treasury management was flawed and this generated tremendous amount of discontent among the masses.

"Since the possibility of Assembly election being held in April/May was known in advance, any Government worth its name would have taken steps sufficiently early to ensure smooth functioning of the treasury, but there was serious dereliction here," the CPI(M) election review report, approved by the party State committee but now subject to further review on orders from the party politburo, says in what is clearly an indictment of the management of State finances by the former Finance Minister, Mr. T. Sivadasa Menon.

The report goes on to say that "though the LDF Government was excellent in many respects, delay in taking some important decisions and statements made by certain responsible persons on certain specific issues lowered its image in the public eye".

The report points out that cheques for such small sums as Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10,000 issued under the People's Plan Campaign were not honoured by treasuries. There was also serious slippage in payment of unemployment allowance and various pensions and this too created widespread resentment. Grant of assistance to individuals under the Plan Campaign turned many hostile. So did the failure to pay salaries to Plus Two teachers and the negative campaign over sanctioning of Plus Two courses and conduct of the DPEP.

The report also contains a veiled attack on the paddy land stir, carried out with the blessings of the politburo member, Mr. V.S. Achuthanandan. It says that the initiative for stern implementation of the Kerala Land Utilisation Act disappointed many who wished to construct houses in such plots. It also put paid to the hopes of many to sell paddy lands for housing purposes and rendered jobless workers of contractors who eked out a living from such small construction projects.

The ban on sand quarrying from rivers and restrictions on quarrying in general by Courts put the livelihood of thousands of workers in jeopardy, but the Government could do nothing. The slum in the prices of cash crops as a result of Central Government policies also turned many against the LDF. The farmers started having the feeling that things would look up if the UDF came to power, the report points out.

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Section  : Southern States
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