The Hindu : Kerala News : CPI(M) to picket offices

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Thursday, Mar 13, 2008
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Kerala

CPI(M) to picket offices

Staff Reporter

MALAPPURAM: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will picket select offices of the Union government in the district on Friday to protest against the Centre’s policies.

A statement by the district secretariat of the CPI(M) said here on Wednesday that the Union government was responsible for the price rise.

Apart from the Passport Office in Malappuram, the CPI(M) will picket the post office at Ponnani and the telephone exchange at Edakkara as part of its protest against the Union government’s policies.

The statement said the Centre had brought hardships to the people by slashing the ration quota by 80 per cent.

As much as 1,58,838 tonnes rice was slashed from the monthly quota of ration card-holders who remain above poverty line. It said the share of the below poverty line (BPL) card-holders was also slashed by 1,922 tonne.

It said the Centre’s move had jeopardised the State’s food safety. The increase in the price of petroleum products in recent months too helped shift the burden on to the people, it said.

The party statement said the State government’s efforts to control the spiralling prices were defeated by the Centre’s policies. The State Government, it said, has been making timely interventions in the market to control the prices from skyrocketing.

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