[Marxistindia] Polit Bureau Communique

[news from the cpi(m)]

December 19, 2021

 

Press Communique

 

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met at New Delhi
on December 17-18, 2021. It has issued the following statement:

 

Covid Pandemic: Omicron Cases Rising

 

With the new variant Omicron infecting more people, new dangers of the
pandemic are emerging.  Unfortunately, despite declaring the target of
vaccinating all adults in the country by the year end, by December 18, only
39 per cent of our population are fully vaccinated with both doses.

 

The pace of vaccination must be urgently speeded up in order to prevent any
onset of a new health emergency in the country.

 

Increasing Marriageable Age for Women

 

The CPI(M) does not support the Bill proposed by the BJP government to
increase the marriageable age for women from the present 18 years to 21
years.  The reasons advanced by the government for such a Bill are not
convincing.  This draft Bill should be sent to the concerned Standing
Committee of Parliament for a deeper scrutiny and consultation with
stakeholders.  

 

A woman, at the age of 18, is legally an adult.  For the purposes of
marriage, to treat her as a juvenile is self-contradictory and violates the
right of an adult to make a personal choice of her partner.  This proposal
deprives a woman to decide the course of her own life.

 

Even when the minimum age was 18 years, the official data informs that the
all-India mean average age of marriage of women in 2017 was 22.1 years.
Such a law is, therefore, unnecessary.  If the consideration for this Bill
is due to health reasons, as the government claims, what is required then is
to ensure nourishment and food security to prevent maternal and infant
mortality.  Increasing marriageable age of women is not the solution.

 

Lakhimpur Kheri Murders

 

The Supreme Court-established Special Investigation Team has filed an FIR
where it is stated that it was a "pre-planned conspiracy causing death".
Eight people were brutally killed in this incident.  The prime accused is
the son of the Union Minister of State for Home, Ajay Misra. Despite a
public outcry, PM Modi has not dismissed the Minister from the Cabinet.  

 

The Polit Bureau demands that this must be done immediately.

 

Successful Bank Strike

 

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) congratulated nearly 10 lakh bank employees
and officers for their successful strike on December 16-17.  This strike
received widespread support from various trade unions and positive response
from the people as the bank unions exposed the manner in which the lifelong
savings of Indian people held in bank accounts were being handed over for
loot by this government's cronies.  During these years of the Modi
government, over Rs. 10.7 lakh crores of such loans have been written off
and the banks are re-capitalized   through public money.

 

Jeopardizing  the public sector banks in this manner, the Modi government
uses this as the excuse for privatization of banks.  This will be disastrous
for the country and the people.  

 

The Polit Bureau demands the immediate rollback of such privatization plans.


 

Price Rise

 

The Wholesale Price Index has risen by 14.2 per cent in November, the
highest in thirty years.  The wholesale fuel and power prices rose by 39.81
per cent; food and fuel prices have reached a twelve-year record.  This is
compounding people's miseries.  

 

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls upon all Party units to organize
protest actions.

 

Unemployment

 

In the single month of November 2021, 68 lakh salaried workers have lost
their jobs.  There is a 17-week high of urban joblessness and a 9-week high
of overall unemployment.

 

Along with galloping inflation, these together are imposing greater miseries
on the people and contributing to further contraction of demand in the
economy deepening government recession.  

 

Direct cash transfers to people of at least Rs. 7,500 per month to each
non-income tax paying family must be given immediately.

 

Denounce PMO Summoning the ECI

 

The Election Commission of India is an independent Constitutional authority,
the only authority meant to conduct free and fair elections.  To discharge
this responsibility, the ECI should be totally independent of the Executive
(government).

 

The recent summoning of the Chief Election Commissioner and the other two
Election Commissioners by the PMO is violative of  the Constitution and a
gross breach of law.  People's faith in the impartiality and neutrality of
the Election Commission will be eroded by such actions of the Modi
government.  

 

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly denounces this and demands Modi
government to stop interfering in the independence of our Constitutional
authorities.

 

23rd Congress

 

The Polit Bureau discussed and finalized the Draft Political Resolution for
the 23rd Congress.  This will now be placed before the Central Committee
scheduled to meet from January 7 to 9, 2022 at Hyderabad.

 

 

 

(For CPI(M) Central Committee office)

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://cpim.org/pipermail/marxistindia_cpim.org/attachments/20211219/9bf41c04/attachment.html>