The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Eviction drive will be intensified, says VS

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
ePaper

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Eviction drive will be intensified, says VS

Special Correspondent

CPI(M) Thiruvananthapuram district conference begins

Says land illegally held by Tatas will be retrieved
Criticises UPA government’s foreign policy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said the government will intensify the drive against land barons who had encroached upon government land in different parts of the State. Inaugurating the three-day Thiruvananthapuram district conference of the CPI(M) here on Wednesday, Mr. Achuthanandan repeated his allegation that the Tatas had encroached upon 50,000 acres of land in Munnar and said that a survey was on to identify the exact extent of such encroachments. The survey should be over in a fortnight and the government was hopeful that it would be able to retrieve the encroached land.

In the first phase of evictions, the officials could retrieve only 1,100 acres, but they could bring to light encroachments sought to be covered up by the company. This time round, the officials were moving cautiously to avoid legal bottlenecks and the land being held by the Tatas would soon be retrieved.

Mr. Achuthanandan said that land barons were growing in the State violating the land reform laws. Some had even constructed buildings above water supply lines. In the coastal areas too, big players had encroached upon public land on a large scale. The government was determined to clear all such encroachments and make land available to the landless, he said. Listing the achievements of his government over the last 19 months, the Chief Minister said that though all the party Ministers had performed well.

Mr. Achuthanandan reminded the delegates that the BJP victory in Gujarat was suggestive of the failure of the Congress to unite secular and democratic forces in the country and its inability to tackle the ‘devious’ moves of the communal and caste forces. The 18th Party Congress of the CPI(M) had warned that the defeat of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) did not mean that rout of the communal fascist forces. The outcome of the Gujarat election vindicated the party’s assessment.

The UPA government’s foreign and domestic policies were no different from the globalisation and liberalisation policies of the NDA regime. In Kerala, the LDF government had been trying to resist the liberalisation policies of the Centre with initiatives that would benefit the toiling masses, debt-ridden farmers and other struggling sections of society, the Chief Minister said.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and party State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, the party’s Central committee and State secretariat members and senior district leaders were present at the inaugural session.

The delegate session began with party district secretary Pirappancode Murali presenting the report. The conference would draw to a close with a rally on Friday.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News Update

Stories in this Section