Date:28/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/28/stories/2005012807600400.htm

Andhra Pradesh

CPI(M) lukewarm to land distribution drive

By Our Staff Reporter

WARANGAL, JAN. 27. The CPI (M) gave a lukewarm welcome to the State Government's recent initiative to distribute 1.5 lakh acres to the poor and called for acquisition and re-distribution of surplus land under the Land Ceiling Act to make this measure meaningful.

"Only the Government land has been distributed at present," said the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, Prakash Karat. Speaking on the sidelines of their party's 21 State conference here on Thursday, he said: "Our party has always called for land reforms and we will support all measures taken by the Government for this."

But, the CPI (M) State secretary, B.V. Raghavulu, was more blunt. He termed the Republic Day exercise of the Government an `eyewash'. "Only barren and degraded forest lands have been given which are not cultivable," he pointed out.

He said that neither the Congress nor the Telugu Desam Party were capable of providing any real alternative to people. They merely used the anger and frustrations of people at their miserable conditions to gain power, he observed.

700 delegates

Nearly 700 delegates, who are attending the conference, were discussing the current political situation to work out ways in which the CPI (M) could give leadership to the aspirations of people and emerge as a real alternative to the `bourgeois' parties like Congress, TDP, BJP and TRS.

Mr. Karat reiterated the CPI (M)'s stand against a separate State for Telangana and argued that smaller states do not necessarily lead to development. He claimed that larger and `stronger' states were necessary for a healthy federalism as too many small States would lead to a powerful Centre.

Free power

Mr. Raghavulu criticised the changes in the free power policy announced by the Government. While corporate farmers should be charged for their electricity, farmers should be provided free power, he demanded. He also said that the new system was unfair to farmers of Telangana and Rayalseema.

"The Government has not provided irrigation to Rayalseema and Telangana regions and therefore farmers here are dependent on borewells. It is unfair on the part of the Government to supply canal irrigation water to some farmers and charge other farmers for their irrigation," he said.