Southern States - Kerala

CPI(M) yet to take a stand on rift in NCP

By Our Staff Reporter

KANNUR APRIL 27. The CPI(M) State secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan, has said that the CPI(M) had not yet taken a stance on the rift in the State unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which has been seen by the party as a continuation of the erstwhile Congress(S), though it has not pursued a clear political stand.

"The NCP is a party which does not have a clear political stand that all other political parties in the country have'', Mr. Vijayan told a press conference here today in reply to a question whether the CPI(M) would ask for including both the NCP and the breakaway faction led by Ramachandran Kadannappally.

Stating that the State unit of the party was seen as a continuation of the Congress (S) which Mr. Kadannappally had now revived, Mr. Vijayan said that differences had now emerged within the NCP on the lack of a distinct political stand in that party. "The fact that we have not taken a stand on the differences within the NCP does not mean that we will not have a stand'', he said. Mr. Vijayan said that the UDF Government's decision to withdraw from service sectors would have far reaching consequences in the State as these sectors had been a distinct element that made the State what it was. The Government was going ahead with a calculated design to dismantle the achievement of the State, he added.

Stating that the UDF Government's education policies were in violation of the directives of the Constitution, he said that the decision to stop free school and higher secondary education would mark the end of the universal education. "A situation will come when common people and the poor cannot afford education as the Government is out to commercialise the education sector'', he said. While many primary schools were now under closure threat, higher education would be inaccessible for the general public, he added.

Mr. Vijayan also took strong exception to the move to introduce `parity' between minority school managements and the managements controlled by the majority community. The assumption, he said, was that like the minority community schools, the majority community-managed schools would be allowed to voluntarily fix education fee in their schools. Strong protest would be mobilised by the CPI(M) against this dangerous argument that sought to categorise schools and their rapid commercialisation on communal lines.

The CPI(M) and its feeder organisation would try all means of agitation to persuade the UDF Government to correct its anti-people policies that included decision to introduce hospital fee and recruitment ban. Allowing aided schools to run unaided divisions would change the very atmosphere of such schools, he said. To another question, he said the Government was cheating the Adivasis by offering land which could not be handed over to them. The Adivasi Samrakshana Samiti's decision to `occupy' land was to protest against the Government's failure to accelerate steps to assign land to the landless tribals as promised by the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony.

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