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Political engagement with development strategies needed, says Prabhat Patnaik

Staff Reporter

Says development activities should benefit the common man

CAPTION OF PIX tv04krdyfi: ''Planning Board Vice-Chairman Prabhat Patnaik inaugurating the State conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India in Kannur on Wednesday.''

KANNUR: State Planning Board Vice-Chairman Prabhat Patnaik has said that the development strategies should be formulated through political engagement.

Inaugurating the State conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) here on Wednesday, Dr. Patnaik said the idea that development should be above politics was an imperialist concept being promoted to destroy political activities. Development activities should benefit the people, he said.

Observing that the imperialist forces were today stronger in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dr. Patnaik said with the emergence of the finance capital, workers' rights were being attacked and welfare measures rolled back.

Globalisation was a globalisation of finances, he said adding that the neo-liberal policies meant free flow of global finances and abolition of all barriers. Old policies of States carrying out large-scale production were being abandoned, he said.

These policies were causing double-digit unemployment, he added. Dr. Patnaik said that crash of prices and decline in trade had triggered an agricultural crisis. Wages had not gone up even when there was enough productivity, he pointed out.

Stating that execution of the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was an act of incredible provocation to deepen the divide between Shias and Sunnis in that country, Dr. Patnaik said that the United States was making a renewed attempt to turn things worse in Iraq.

Imperialists were using an inverted logic when they were saying that they were trying to bring democracy, he said adding that they were in fact making all attempts to destroy democracy by reducing the rights and powers of the people and depoliticising social life.

He also said that the judiciary was also restricting rights of workers and the people.

Urging the DYFI to defend the rights of the people and make them conscious of their rights, Dr. Patnaik said that the DYFI should address the fact that there was absence of gender justice in Kerala despite enormous social advances.

Dowry system existing here and the sheer restriction on women's ability to move freely called for concerted struggle for gender justice, he said.

DYFI State president presided over the inaugural function. DYFI all-India president K.N. Balagopal, State secretary A. Pradeekumar, MLA, conference organising committee chairman M.V. Jayarajan, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Central committee member E.P. Jayarajan, party State secretariat member M.V. Govindan and district secretary P. Sasi were present.

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