'The Centre has been neglecting Kerala throughout'
Communism was responsible for a major social change in Kerala.
But the image of Kerala outside is not very industry friendly.
It is bourgeois propaganda. They propagate that the workers
in Kerala go on strike all the time. This is all bourgeois
propaganda. But most strikes are in Bombay and not in Kerala.
They cannot tolerate the Communist governments that have come
to power, so in order to tarnish the image of Communist governments,
they do such things. Reality is different.
I am asking you, don't the
Birla have a factory in Mavoor? Tata has a tea factory where 25,000
people work. Somani has a factory in Kottayam. All major industrialists
have factories here. Apollo has a tyre factory in Kerala. Is it
not profitable? Major industrialists have come to Kerala. But
the false propaganda says that Kerala has been completely ignored
by industrialists so that more industries won't come to Kerala.
Yes, we have a weakness here, the power shortage. If we can rectify
that weakness here, the power shortage. If we can rectify that
weakness, we will have industrialists coming to Kerala.
It is alleged that Communism is responsible for Kerala's
industrial backwardness.
I told you, it was the image created by some bourgeois papers.
A state rule by a Communist government
it West Bengal is most sought after by industrialists. Did
you ever ask Jyoti Basu the reasons for his success?
I don't have to ask him, the reason is surplus power. Once
like us, there was power shortage there. It is because of the
continuous rule of the Communist government, that they have surplus
power now. In the same way, because of the decentralisation of
power in the panchayats, production also increased tremendously in
West Bengal. (It is) in fact the most (productive state) in India.
How could they achieve that? Because they (Communists) have been
ruling the state continuously. Here, whatever we started was destroyed
by the next government. They destroyed our agricultural plans.
We followed the advice of people like Dr M S Swaminathan and our
production increased by 150,000 tonnes. The frequent
change of governments has proved to be the bane of this state.
Why is it that no government is given a second lease of life
by the people of Kerala?
Because of the inefficiencies of the governments.
The industrial development in West Bengal is almost like opening
the doors to private parties, that is, like liberalising the economy.
Is it not moving away from the paths of Communism and following
a liberalised path?
No, it is not like that at all. They work only on the lines
of the resolutions passed by our executive and central committees.
They have not deviated from the path of Communism at all.
If you have to move slightly away from the ideals that you
follow for the development of the state, will you accept such
changes?
From our experience, we have found that such changes won't
bring about any good for the society. Why did the Congress government
fail? Because of their economic policies. The Congress which ruled
India for the last 48 years is almost extinct now. If we follow
that policy, our fate also would be the same.
Does that mean a liberalised economy is not good for the society,
according to you?
No, no. Liberalisation, privatisation; all are wrong policies.
Narasimha Rao's government proved it in the last five years. Above
all, they were the most corrupt too.
P Chidambaram's Budget also is an extension of Manmohan Singh's
policies, isn't it so? And, he belong to the United Front government.
That is why we opposed half of it. We accept half of it, but
oppose the rest. We do not support it fully. Chidambaram has not
left the liberalisation policies.
What, according to you, are the incorrect aspects that you, a Communist
see in his Budget?
Share scams. Selling of shares by private people. By selling
shares, the public sector is inching towards being privatised.
They collect more tax from people. They increased the price of
petrol, diesel, etc. it is all because of the bad aspects of the
Budget.
When public sector organisations were started, it might have
been with the intention of helping the working class in a socialist
way, but most of the public sector undertakings became sick. What
could be the reason?
Because of the deficiencies in the management, of course. There
is nothing wrong with the concept of public sector undertakings.....
Let's stop here. I am very tired....
|