The Hindu : Kerala News : LDF committed to industrialisation: Karat

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Sunday, Apr 22, 2007
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Kerala

LDF committed to industrialisation: Karat

Staff Reporter

Says Government has taken the right decision on Smart City

REMEMBERING A COMRADE: CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat speaking at the T.K. Ramakrishnan commemoration meeting and the valedictory function of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the EMS Ministry at Thripunithura in the city on Saturday. - Photo: Vipinchandran

KOCHI: The decision to bring Smart City to Kochi is an indication of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government's commitment to the industrialisation of the State, said CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat here on Saturday.

He was inaugurating a public meeting organised at Thripunithura to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Communist Government in Kerala and to commemorate T. K. Ramakrishnan, CPI(M) leader, who died a year ago.

Mr. Karat said that the LDF Government had taken the right decision on Smart City and that the conditions in the agreement were advantageous to the State compared to the conditions that were accepted by the former United Democratic Front Government.

The CPI (M) leader said that new propaganda was unleashed by the party's enemy to discredit it. This was the case with CPI(M) Government's actions in West Bengal.

The State needed fresh investments and, at the same time, the Government was not ready to abandon its peasants, said Mr. Karat. In fact, he said the Kisan Sabhas in West Bengal had a membership of more than one crore.

Mr. Karat said that the Left parties were always pressurising the United Progressive Alliance Government to adopt pro-people policies and as a result of these efforts the Union Government had abandoned its move to privatise profit-making public sector units.

He said that the Left wanted the Government to bring about a policy on big companies entering into the retailing business. On Special Economic Zones, Mr. Karat said that a policy on SEZs should be formulated keeping in mind the welfare of society.

The CPI(M) leader said that the issue of corruption in the judiciary should be discussed. He called for judicial reforms and the formation of a National Judicial Commission.

The first Government in Kerala was a trailblazer, said Mr. Karat. It brought about lasting changes by bringing about pro-people policies. Land reforms, democratisation of the education system, efforts to create a pro-people police force and to decentralise power were some of the major steps taken by the first Communist government, he said.

Former Chief Minister of West Bengal Jyoti Basu had said that the EMS-led Government was a model that worked for the welfare of the working class.

The dream of social transformation had still not been achieved and the party should pledge itself to work towards this goal at the 50th anniversary of the first Communist Government, said Mr. Karat.

Minister for Local Self-Government Paloli Mohammed Kutty said the late T.K. Ramakrishnan was a courageous person who could face any situation.

K. Chandran Pillai, MP; E. Balanandan and M. C. Josephine, members of the Central Committee of CPI (M); and Sarojini Balanandan, CPI(M) State Committee member, were among those present.

Earlier in the evening, thousands of volunteers marched to the venue of the public meeting braving bad weather.

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