The Hindu : DYFI lays siege to taluk office

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 28, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

DYFI lays siege to taluk office

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, JAN. 27. The State Government, in the recently-released Economic Review, has admitted that many of the achievements of the Kerala Model of Development have gone down the drain during its two-and-a-half-year rule, the CITU State president, K.N. Ravindranath, has said.

Mr. Ravindranath was speaking after inaugurating the Kanayannoor taluk office picketing organised by the DYFI here today.

The State Government, while initiating the reforms process, had promised that it would strive to maintain the achievements of the State made over the years. However, it failed to protect the gains made by the State over the years. The State Planning Board had also admitted that the achievements of the Kerala Model had been undone during the last two years, he said.

The much-lauded achievements of Kerala like increased life expectancy, low birth rate, high rate of literacy and comprehensive public health care system had ceased to exist under the UDF regime, Mr. Ravindranath said. The State became a graveyard for industries and unemployment reached an all-time high, he said.

This happened at a time when the State Government claimed that it had initiated steps for streamlining the productive sector, he said. The wrong economic policies of the Union Government had spell doom on the industrial and agricultural sectors of the country forcing farmers and workers into misery, he said.

He criticised the warning issued by the DGP to the DYFI leaders that they would be held responsible for any loss or damage caused by its activists during the agitation. By issuing such a statement, the State Government was attempting to intimidate the youth who were aggrieved at the denial of employment opportunities than attempting to address their issues, he said.

The DYFI Ernakulam district secretary, John Fernandes, the State committee member, Zakkir Hussein, the block secretary, V. V. Praveen, and the president, N. Anilkumar, led the agitation.

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