CLICK TO ENLARGEFriday, October 8, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
UNPRECEDENTED RISE IN COTTON, YARN PRICES: TIRUPUR BANDH WARNS UPA GOVT - S P Rajendran
The textile cluster of Tamilnadu, including Tirupur, the knitwear capital of the country, observed a powerful 48 hour bandh on September 24 and 25 in protest against the continuing rise in the cotton and yarn prices.
Tirupur is a textile city and also an important trade centre of India, and has gained universal recognition as the leading source of hosiery, knitted garments, casual wear and sportswear. The city emerged as the knitwear capital in three decades. Exports from Tirupur, which provide employment to over five lakh people directly, have crossed the Rs 12,000 crore mark. Tirupur is thus the lifeline for million of people in Tamilnadu. The knitwear industry, which is the soul of the city, has created millions of jobs for all class of people. He we have nearly 3,000 sewing units, 450 knitting units, hundreds of dying units, and other ancillary units which are uncountable.
PEOPLE’S LIFE TARGETED
For this lifeline of millions of people in Tamilnadu, cotton and cotton yarn are evidently the main resource materials. But the neo-liberal policies of the UPA government have now targeted these very materials and now the entire textiles and knitwear industry in the region is under attack. This is pushing all these people to the verge of starvation.
India is the second largest producer as well as second largest shipper of cotton in the world. The country expects cotton production to be around 35.5 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) in 2010-11, which would be an increase of 4 million bales compared to the 31.5 million bales is 2009-10.
However even though this is a good trend in cotton production, a planned scarcity has been created in the domestic market, due to the blind exports and the speculative trading in the raw material at the national and international levels.
India is now exporting 5.5 million bales of cotton to the world market. Recently the union minister for agriculture, Sharad Pawar, announced that the government would review the 5.5 million bales limit on exports and the nation can then export 7.5 to 8 million bales in the year starting October 1. Union commerce secretary Rahul Khullar also announced that duty-free exports of 5.5 million bales would be allowed.
Pawar and his cotton exporters lobby claims that the export of more cotton to the world market, which is handed by multinational speculative and online traders, will bring better prices to the Indian cotton growers. But in reality the benefit is going go to the big exporters.
Instead of giving a minimum support price of Rs 4,200 per quintal to the domestic growers, as being demanded by them, the government has set the procurement price at only Rs 3,300 per quintal. This is cheapest compared to other countries. China is giving Rs 4,800 per quintal to its growers and Brazil gives Rs 4,900.
Making huge procurements of this ‘cheapest’ cotton, big traders prefer to export more cotton and thus to earn more profit.
As a result, the prices of cotton and yarn in the domestic market have touched unprecedented levels. The domestic price of cotton has increased from Rs 23,000 per candy (356 kg) in April 2010 to Rs 41,000 per candy now. The price of popular varieties of cotton like Shankar-6 now hovers at around Rs 42,000 per candy.
From Rs 120 per kg in August 2009, the warp yarn prices increased by nearly 80 per cent to touch Rs 200 per kg this August. The price of hosiery yarn increased by 40 per cent in one year.
Textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran has failed to effectively intervene on this issue. DMK leader and Tamilnadu chief minister, M Karunanidhi, wrote only a casual letter to the prime minister.
FIGHTBACK STARTS
So for the textiles manufactures and workers of Tirupur, there was no alterative but to fight in order to protect their industry and livelihood.
Tirupur is a textile city and also an important trade centre of India, and has gained universal recognition as the leading source of hosiery, knitted garments, casual wear and sportswear. The city emerged as the knitwear capital in three decades. Exports from Tirupur, which provide employment to over five lakh people directly, have crossed the Rs 12,000 crore mark. Tirupur is thus the lifeline for million of people in Tamilnadu. The knitwear industry, which is the soul of the city, has created millions of jobs for all class of people. He we have nearly 3,000 sewing units, 450 knitting units, hundreds of dying units, and other ancillary units which are uncountable.
PEOPLE’S LIFE TARGETED
For this lifeline of millions of people in Tamilnadu, cotton and cotton yarn are evidently the main resource materials. But the neo-liberal policies of the UPA government have now targeted these very materials and now the entire textiles and knitwear industry in the region is under attack. This is pushing all these people to the verge of starvation.
India is the second largest producer as well as second largest shipper of cotton in the world. The country expects cotton production to be around 35.5 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) in 2010-11, which would be an increase of 4 million bales compared to the 31.5 million bales is 2009-10.
However even though this is a good trend in cotton production, a planned scarcity has been created in the domestic market, due to the blind exports and the speculative trading in the raw material at the national and international levels.
India is now exporting 5.5 million bales of cotton to the world market. Recently the union minister for agriculture, Sharad Pawar, announced that the government would review the 5.5 million bales limit on exports and the nation can then export 7.5 to 8 million bales in the year starting October 1. Union commerce secretary Rahul Khullar also announced that duty-free exports of 5.5 million bales would be allowed.
Pawar and his cotton exporters lobby claims that the export of more cotton to the world market, which is handed by multinational speculative and online traders, will bring better prices to the Indian cotton growers. But in reality the benefit is going go to the big exporters.
Instead of giving a minimum support price of Rs 4,200 per quintal to the domestic growers, as being demanded by them, the government has set the procurement price at only Rs 3,300 per quintal. This is cheapest compared to other countries. China is giving Rs 4,800 per quintal to its growers and Brazil gives Rs 4,900.
Making huge procurements of this ‘cheapest’ cotton, big traders prefer to export more cotton and thus to earn more profit.
As a result, the prices of cotton and yarn in the domestic market have touched unprecedented levels. The domestic price of cotton has increased from Rs 23,000 per candy (356 kg) in April 2010 to Rs 41,000 per candy now. The price of popular varieties of cotton like Shankar-6 now hovers at around Rs 42,000 per candy.
From Rs 120 per kg in August 2009, the warp yarn prices increased by nearly 80 per cent to touch Rs 200 per kg this August. The price of hosiery yarn increased by 40 per cent in one year.
Textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran has failed to effectively intervene on this issue. DMK leader and Tamilnadu chief minister, M Karunanidhi, wrote only a casual letter to the prime minister.
FIGHTBACK STARTS
So for the textiles manufactures and workers of Tirupur, there was no alterative but to fight in order to protect their industry and livelihood.
A confederation was formed under the initiative of Tirupur Exporters and Manufactures Association (TEAMA). Associations like the Tirupur Industrial Federation, Tirupur Export Knit Printers Association, Tirupur Hosiery Yarn Merchants Association, Coimbatore District Powerloom Cloth Manufacturers Association, Erode Textiles and Garments Exporters Association and the central trade unions like the CITU, AITUC, HMS and INTUC joined it.
Responding to the call of the said confederation, all the micro, small, medium and also big textile companies in western and southern Tamilnadu went on a 48 hour strike. The entire city of Tirupur wore a deserted look. Almost all home textile export units in Karur, Erode, Palladam, Somanur, Avinashi and 2.5 lakh powerlooms across Tamilnadu also joined the strike. Operations in most of the textile firms in the state came to a halt.
The ruling DMK miserably failed in its attempts to disrupt the massive response for the bandh though it did use the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA), a group of big industrialists, which refused to join the strike.
After this successful protest, TEAMA president M P Muthurathinam said it was high time the cotton prices were brought down. To this end, the government should ban cotton export as well as speculative trading so that the requisite quantity needed for consumption of Indian garment making units become available at lower prices.
He reiterated that banning the cotton exports was not going to affect the livelihood prospects of the growers in any manner, as it is the traders and middlemen and not the growers who benefit from the higher export prices.
Even after giving a minimum support price of Rs 4,200 per quintal to the growers, as they are demanding, as against the present procurement rate of Rs 3,300 per quintal, the spinnable cotton could be distributed at around Rs 27,000 per candy, he pointed out. However, the price now hovers at around Rs 42,000 per candy.
This abnormality in the other-end prices is only because of free-hand cotton exports and online trading, the TEAMA president said.
He suggested that the Cotton Corporation of India should procure the cotton produced by the growers so as to ensure that they get good prices. This will, in turn, ensure that the cotton trade does not remain under the middlemen’s dominance.
Muthurathinam thanked all the constituents of the confederation which had called for a total shutdown in Tirupur and nearby clusters on September 24 and 25 to express the displeasure of the textile industry over the rising prices of cotton. The response was tremendous owing to the sincere participation of the trade unions as well as the textile and trade associations, he said.
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
Responding to the call of the said confederation, all the micro, small, medium and also big textile companies in western and southern Tamilnadu went on a 48 hour strike. The entire city of Tirupur wore a deserted look. Almost all home textile export units in Karur, Erode, Palladam, Somanur, Avinashi and 2.5 lakh powerlooms across Tamilnadu also joined the strike. Operations in most of the textile firms in the state came to a halt.
The ruling DMK miserably failed in its attempts to disrupt the massive response for the bandh though it did use the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA), a group of big industrialists, which refused to join the strike.
After this successful protest, TEAMA president M P Muthurathinam said it was high time the cotton prices were brought down. To this end, the government should ban cotton export as well as speculative trading so that the requisite quantity needed for consumption of Indian garment making units become available at lower prices.
He reiterated that banning the cotton exports was not going to affect the livelihood prospects of the growers in any manner, as it is the traders and middlemen and not the growers who benefit from the higher export prices.
Even after giving a minimum support price of Rs 4,200 per quintal to the growers, as they are demanding, as against the present procurement rate of Rs 3,300 per quintal, the spinnable cotton could be distributed at around Rs 27,000 per candy, he pointed out. However, the price now hovers at around Rs 42,000 per candy.
This abnormality in the other-end prices is only because of free-hand cotton exports and online trading, the TEAMA president said.
He suggested that the Cotton Corporation of India should procure the cotton produced by the growers so as to ensure that they get good prices. This will, in turn, ensure that the cotton trade does not remain under the middlemen’s dominance.
Muthurathinam thanked all the constituents of the confederation which had called for a total shutdown in Tirupur and nearby clusters on September 24 and 25 to express the displeasure of the textile industry over the rising prices of cotton. The response was tremendous owing to the sincere participation of the trade unions as well as the textile and trade associations, he said.
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
Sunday, September 26, 2010
MAJOR POLICY INITIATIVES OF THE WEST BENGAL LEFT FRONT GOVERNMENT IN THE RECENT PAST
The Trinamool Congress and the media have been consistently making the claim that all development works have been stalled because of an inertia of the Left Front Government. This is nothing but Goebblsian propaganda for two reasons. Firstly, whatever development work have been thwarted in the state is solely because of the disruptive activities of the Maoist-TMC gang up. Secondly, even in the midst of tremendous hurdles put up by the opposition, the Left Front Government is continuing with its pro-people developmental initiatives. The major policy initiatives of the Government are listed below:
LAND REFORMS
The state government has distributed free land to 2,495 people for agricultural and dwelling purposes upto May of the current year. In the scheme 'Chash-O-Basobaser Bhumidan Prakalpa' for the purposes mentioned above 291 acres 07 decimal have been allotted. The beneficiaries include agricultural workers, rural artisans and fishermen. In addition, the government has also decided to buy land for people who are homeless and living in others land at a price which is 25% higher than the market price. So far the state government has purchased 611 acres 41 decimal of land for the scheme.
HOUSING FOR THE POOR
The state govt. has allocated Rs. 400 crore in the current financial year for construction of new dwelling units and renovation of the existing ones for all the homeless slum-dwellers and those who were not beneficiaries of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and remained without a shelter. Rs. 400 crore in the current financial year for construction of new dwelling units and renovation of the existing ones for all the homeless slum-dwellers and those who were not beneficiaries of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and remained without a shelter.
UNORGANIZED SECTOR
In West Bengal, the first provident fund scheme for unorganized workers was started in the year 2000-01. Now, it is planned to extend the scheme to 44 new categories of workers including rickshaw pullers, hawkers, cobblers, porters, auto-rickshaw drivers etc. So far 17 lakh people are beneficiaries of this scheme. This scheme has also been linked with the health insurance scheme of the central government. Financial assistance has been provided to the workers of closed tea gardens and factories the amount for which has been increased from Rs 750 per head per month to Rs 1500 per head per month.
SPECIAL SCHEME FOR TRANSPORT WORKERS
The Left Front government has recently launched a comprehensive social security scheme for the workers of transport sector, which is the first of its kind and unique in India. This scheme will cover at least 14 lakh workers of bus, mini bus, taxi, auto rickshaws, truck, mini truck, waterways and other categories of mass transport. Under this scheme each worker will get a pension on monthly basis after retirement from 60 years of age till his death. But in case of disability of permanent nature caused by an accident, the worker will be entitled to get the pension since the occurrence of the accident. Apart from this, in case of accidental death, the family of the worker will receive a sum of Rs 1 lakh as financial assistance under the scheme.
MINORITY DEVELOPMENT
West Bengal is showing the way amongst all the states in the country in taking development initiative for the minority community of the state. The Left Front Government is the first government in the country to accept the Ranganath Mishra Commission Report and announce 10% reservation for Muslim OBCs in the state.
A large number of scholarships have been started to benefit the students from the minority community. These include, state government scholarships to meritorious students, pre-matric and post-matric scholarships, means-cum-merit scholarships etc. In fact West Bengal has the highest number of scholarships for minority students in the country. On the other hand, the Government has also taken initiatives to modernize the madrasas and set up the Alia University. A large number of initiatives have also been taken to uplift the condition of women in the minority community. These schemes include special skill development and housing schemes for women, special drive to construct women’s hostels, a campus for girl students at Alia University etc.
PRICE RISE AND FOOD SECURITY
On the face of rising food prices, the Government of West Bengal has ensured that people belonging to BPL are provided with rice at Rs 2 per Kg. It is also proposed that this scheme be extended to cover the lowest 20% of the population living above the poverty line.
AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT
In West Bengal, for the improvement of productivity and employment in agriculture, irrigation has been given a lot or priority. The allocation for irrigation has been increased from Rs 209 crore last year to Rs 459 crore this year. This will go a long way in improving the irrigation facilities and increase the total irrigated area as a proportion of total agricultural area to 75%. In addition to this, the government has decided to set up 134 bio-villages and seed villages to ensure access to bio-technology for agriculture. As a result of continued effort of the government in the agriculture sector, the growth rate of agriculture in West Bengal in 2009-10 was 4.2% while that of India was 0.2%.
EMPLOYMENT
The Government of West Bengal has announced an Urban Employment Guarantee Act for the urban poor in the state. This will go a long way in addressing the employment problem and poverty in the urban areas in West Bengal.
A major initiative of the West Bengal government has been in terms of Self-employment schemes. These schemes have benefited 66,881 entrepreneurs. The Government has allocated another rs 120 crore for this scheme.
In addition to these the Left Front Government has continuously worked for the benefit of the poor and is committed towards furthering the interests of the people of the state. In the coming days too, such endeavour will continue.
Courtesy: www.cpimwb.org.in
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
VIETNAM MOVING AHEAD IN SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION - Sitaram Yechury
THE Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam organised a six-day visit to the country in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, coinciding with my participation in the international conference on Ho Chi Minh's Legacy and present a paper on 'Ho Chi Minh: National Independence and Socialism,' at the invitation of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy. This conference was organised to commemorate the 120th birth anniversary of Comrade Ho Chi Minh, who was born on May 19, 1890.
Apart from a string of high level party leaders and intellectuals from Vietnam, the conference was attended by representatives of the Communist and Workers parties from China, DPRK, Cuba, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Laos, France, and Chile. Also present were leaders of Vietnamese solidarity committees from Thailand, UK, USA, India, Russia, Mexico, Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Hungary and Bulgaria.
The country head of UNESCO speaking in the inaugural session said she was attending the conference to fulfil the mandate of the resolution adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its twenty-fourth session held in 1987 on the celebration of the birth of President Ho Chi Minh, “a national hero and a great man of culture”. Further, “The General Conference also considered him an outstanding symbol of national affirmation since he had devoted his life to freeing Vietnam and the Vietnamese people, thereby contributing to the common struggle of all people for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress, they also considered that his important and multifaceted contributions in the fields of culture, education and the arts crystallised Vietnam's cultural tradition, one that stretches back several thousand years and that his ideals embodied the aspirations of people as they strive to affirm their cultural identity and promote mutual understanding.
“Based on these considerations, the General Conference recommended to Member States that they join in the commemoration of the birth of President Ho Chi Minh by organising various events as a tribute to his memory in order to spread knowledge of the greatness of his ideals and his work for national liberation. They also requested the director general of UNESCO to take appropriate steps to celebrate his birth and to lend support to commemorative activities organised on that occasion, in particular those taking place in Vietnam”.
It is very rarely that the UN commemorates, let alone passes a resolution recommending the member states to join in this commemoration of the birth of a Communist leader. This, in itself, speaks volumes about the greatness of Comrade Ho Chi Minh. Thus, it is indeed an honour to represent the Party in the conference commemorating the birthday of such a great communist leader.
BI-LATERAL TALKS WITH THE CPV
Wide ranging talks were held with the leaders of the CPV, the highlight of which was the meeting with Truong Tan Sang, member of the Polit Bureau and permanent member of the Secretariat at the new party Central Committee office that has been recently built attached to the old office from where Comrade Ho Chi Minh led the revolution and the unification of Vietnam.
Long discussions were held with Hoang Binh Quan, member of the Central Committee and the chairman of the External Relations Commission. During the discussions Quan explained in detail about various developments that are taking place in the country and the party.
He stated that the 11th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam scheduled to be held in the month of January 2011, is going to be a significant Congress in the history of the party and the country. According to him, many important agendas will be taken up for discussion in this Congress. The Doi-Moi or the reform process being implemented for the past 24 years and the experiences in the implementation of this process would be reviewed. The 1991 Party Programme document would be supplemented and further developed, based on the experiences that the party has gained in these two decades.
Quan explained that the process of Socialist construction that is being carried out in the country does not have any blue print and is different from the course pursued elsewhere as it is based on the concrete conditions of their country. He expressed confidence that Vietnam would remain a socialist country in spite of the criticism of some people who expressed apprehensions that the country would return to capitalism, as they have been implementing the process with the utmost care.
It is because of this 'concrete application of theory to the concrete conditions' that Vietnam has recorded some important achievements in economic, cultural and social sectors. Vietnam is witnessing rapid progress under what is termed as 'socialist oriented market economy'. They were successful in bringing down the poverty rate from 58 per cent to around 10 per cent. Even the World Bank has acknowledged this fact and named Vietnam as a country where poverty rates are fast coming down. Vietnam now has set itself a target of converting itself into an industrialised country by the end of the year 2020 and is well in the process of achieving its target.
The current economic situation is stable with the country witnessing a steady growth of above 6 per cent of the GDP. The country was able to maintain a growth rate of 5.2 per cent even when the entire world was reeling under the affects of the global crisis and registering negative growth rates. This year the growth rate is expected to be 6.5 per cent.
The leaders in their discussions have shared the opinion that the illusions about Obama across the world are slowly fading away. There is also a resentment and concern about the US intervention in South-East Asia, particularly its intervention in ASEAN, which could be seen by the presence of the US ambassador in the recent ASEAN meeting. Also of concern is the role of the US military in this region.
CPV's EMPHASIS ON IDEOLOGICAL TRAINING
The CPV is giving a lot of importance to the ideological training of its cadre and has two big academies that cater to the political ideological development of the cadre. All the provinces in the country have permanent party schools which impart training to the cadre at the provincial level. Apart from these, there is a Central Political Theoretical Council that is constantly involved in the dissemination of political education to all the party members in the country. There is also a separate Political Academy for Defence and a Political and Public administration Academy to raise the consciousness of the cadre working in these sectors. Some universities also have Marxist-Leninist departments.
RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND VIETNAM
The leaders of the CPV expressed their gratitude to the people of India, its government and especially the Left movement for their support to the Vietnamese liberation struggle. The two slogans that characterised the solidarity movement with the anti-Vietnamese war, 'Amor naam, tumar naam, Vietnam, Vietnam' and 'Ho, ho, Ho Chi Minh, We shall fight, We Shall Win' were fondly remembered in these meetings. This friendship between the peoples of the two countries not only continues, but is deepened and withstood the test of times.
On the country level relations between the two countries, India and Vietnam, they have opined that though the political relations between the two countries are strong, economic relations need to be further strengthened. They have stated that there exists vast potential for strengthening the economic relations between the two countries. Currently India is ranked 29th among the various countries that have investments in Vietnam.
In addition, talks were held with Pham Xuan Son, vice chairman, external relations, Ms Du Thi Huang, secretary of Quang Ninh provincial party committee and Ms Huynh Thi Nhan, leader of Ho Chi Minh city party committee. The leaders of the CPV expressed their happiness for the strong friendly and fraternal relations between the CPI(M) and the CPV. There is also an increase in the exchange of delegation visits and also the discussions between the two parties. The CPV at present has relations with over 200 parties around the world, which include many ruling parties.
Source: People’s Democracy dated 23-05-2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)