CPI-M calls off stir, sets up panel to study paddy field conversion

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The farmers in Kerala heaved a sigh of relief after the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union, led by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist, stopped destroying crops on reclaimed paddy fields.

The 78-day-old agitation by the KSKTU was called off after the government assured that a committee of experts would be set up to go into all issues connected with the paddy field conversion.

Chief Minister E Nayanar who announced the decision, sought to placate both farmers and the unions, saying the committee would address the problem of paddy fields being filled up as well as ways to make paddy cultivation a more profitable venture.

He also said that the matter of compensation to those farmers who lost their crops in the agitation would be decided by the committee, to be appointed in consultation with Dr M S Swaminathan, adviser to the Kerala government on agriculture. The CPI-M's partners, the Communist Party of India and the Kerala Congress (Joseph), and the opposition, lead by the Congress-led United Democratic Front, all took it as a victory since they had been demanding that affected farmers be compensated. The KSKTU did not like the idea since they felt the farm workers had been given a worse deal than the farmers.

The UDF had boycotted the meeting, claiming the agitation was an outcome of infighting in the CPI-M, a spin-off from the battle between politburo member V S Achutanandan and Nayanar, and it wasn't their business to resolve it.

Achutanandan lost his chance to become the chief minister when he lost the election last year. Later, though he backed Nayanar in the race for chief ministership against arch rival Susheela Gopalan, he has been touring the state, picking holes in the government's policies.

In having to back out, Achutanandan suffered his second big defeat. Even earlier, he had called off a campaign against the government for its alleged failure to protect the interest of the state in the inter-state river water matter.

EARLIER REPORT:
CPI-M's 'revert to paddy' stir raises a storm