The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Congress to set up ward committees

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 16, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Congress to set up ward committees

Special Correspondent

Action plan to streamline party's functioning

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress on Thursday decided to set up ward committees to streamline its grassroots functioning with a special agenda to improve its presence in the local bodies.

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) executive, which met here, also decided to reject the P.P. George committee's recommendation to set up Assembly constituency committees as part of the revamp. The executive decided to conduct elections to lower level bodies up to the ward committee level.

The party decided to hold elections to the ward committees, besides announcing a six-month action plan to streamline its functioning. The action plan includes convening committees at various levels of the party apparatus. The booth committees now in place will continue in office.

Announcing the details of the action plan, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala said the ward committees would have 15 members, with adequate representation for Dalits and women. The district congress committee leadership, in consultation with the KPCC general secretary and secretary in charge of the respective districts, would reconstitute mandalam committees where necessary. All DCC office-bearers would continue in their respective posts.

The executive discussed the Padmarajan Committee report, which evaluated the reasons for the party's defeat in the Assembly elections. The next executive meeting would further discuss the report along with the action taken report to be presented by the KPCC president.

The meeting also authorised Mr. Chennithala to take action against party leaders identified by the committee for working against the Congress interests in the elections. According to sources, the committee had evaluated that the alliance with the erstwhile DIC(K) had cost the party dear.

Lathi-charge flayed

Mr. Chennithala condemned the police lathi-charge against the demonstration taken out by the Orthodox Church members. The demonstration was not political in nature to warrant such a reaction from the police, he said, and, at the same time, condemned the attack on media persons.

On the Devaswom ordinance, he said the KPCC welcomed it if it was in the spirit of a similar move the former United Democratic Front (UDF) Government had made to cleanse temple administration. The Government should be prepared to make the necessary amendments to the proposed Bill that would protect the interests of devotees.

Mr. Chennithala said the party had decided to take a constructive approach that would expose the Left Democratic Front Government while, at the same time, come up with an alternative development programme. It had decided to organise a series of seminars in April that would enable the party to chart out its agenda.

In another press conference, UDF convener P.P. Thankachan and the Congress leader Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan wanted the Government to convene a conference of all people's representatives in the three districts through which the Main Central (M.C.) Road passed before taking a decision on re-tendering the road construction work under the Kerala State Transport Project. They said that the Government's decision to re-tender the work was not an easy affair.

It was not easy to cancel an international bid without following the procedures. The Government had failed to recover the Rs. 12-crore mobilisation advance it had given to Pati Bell.

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