By Meghnad Bhuian
“Junglemahal”, a word whose use is objected by some. Cloaked in the natural beauty & mystery of the jungle, its origin lies in the word ‘Junglemahaal’. A section of the people believes that this word should be banned as it was, for a long period of time, popularized by British imperialism.
Junglemahal comprises of parts of 5 districts in the western region of the state, larger chunks belonging to West Medinipur & Purulia, followed by Bankura. Bardhamaan & Birbhum have small contributions. In all, 74 blocks under the state’s development council for the western region, of which, 18 belong to W Medinipur, 20 to Purulia & 16 with Bankura. However, not all of these belong to the much talked disturbed region. The Maoists have not even set foot on all of these areas.
The areas plagued by the Maoist terrorism are parts of W Medinipur; Binpur-2(the hub being Belpahari), Binpur-1( Lalgarh), Shalboni, Jhargram, Garbeta-2( Goaltore), Aarsha, Balarampur, Bandowan, Bagmundi, Barabazaar in Purulia; Sarenga & Raniband in Bankura. This apart, Khairashol in Birbhum, parts of Manbazaar in Purulia, W Medinipur’s Gopiballavpur, Medinipur Sadar, Sankrail & some parts Nayagram in Medinipur are victims of the Maoist destructive agenda.
An oft repeated propaganda cites lack of development as the primary reason for the rise in influence of the Maoists. However, we need to appreciate the role of geography as the biggest hurdle; unfertile soil, uneven rough terrain. This region has only 55.45% fertile soil as opposed to the state average of 66.03%. Forests occupy 13.8% of the state, this western region, however, has 19.3%. Has less rainfall comparatively. Marginal workers comprise 8.05% across the state, while this region has an average of 35.7%. IIT Kharagpur, under the aegis of the state’s department of development for this western region has published a comprehensive report on this region, in Jan, 2007, citing 20 of the 74 blocks as being backward. The ones terrorized by the Maoists are Binpur-2, Bandowan, Bagmundi, Aarsha. On the other hand, blocks such as Sarenga, Sankrail, Goaltore, Medinipur Sadar, Jhargram are amongst the most developed. Therefore, the logic of non-development as a justification for terrorism, destruction & murder is a false one.
The real reason lies in the “Jungle” being at the center of the Maoist war strategy. They have chosen harsh terrain, mountains, forest-ridden regions for their so called ‘revolutionary agenda’. Also, it is their stated policy.
These locations, have primarily witnessed secret murders on account of the “revolutionary” activities of the Maoists. History is a witness to the fact that secret murders of individual terrorism had never reared its ugly head throughout the Chuad revolt, Munda uprising or the Indian freedom movements that followed in this Junglemahal area, the reason being social. Junglemahal has, primarily been organized, community based living being the established form. Protests, Resistance, festivals or even daily livelihood have all been united & community led. This harsh, un-fertile, forest ridden region of West Bengal has the essential character suitable to a communist movement. The falsehood of the middle-class, petty-bourgeoisie impulsive ‘annihilation’ has never made a mark in this forest region paved with Mahua & Shal. Pre & post-independence times have seen a series of movements led by the leftists, mostly by communists; struggle for land being at the core. The era of Naxalite delusion saw only a handful of villagers from a few pockets in Belpahari, Gopiballavpur, Jhargram, etc becoming workers or sympathisers of certain groupings of the Naxalites, but was never able to establish their tactic of secret murders in this region. Therefore, the Maoists have been completely wrong in their analysis of the situation from the very beginning. They have had to consistently retreat in Lalgarh & the credit doesn’t entirely go to the joint forces. The Maoists have not been able to get a safe haven in these villages, nestled deep in the hills & forests. The villagers are getting increasingly impatient for peace & want liberty from the blood drenched clutches of the Maoists.
Subject “Development”
Their current discomfiture has suddenly reminded the Maoists of ‘development’. That it is the Maoists & their fronts who create the roadblocks to development is increasingly becoming clear to people. It is also a desperate attempt at shoring up their image with the urbane intellectuals that development makes an entry into the destructive Maoist lexicon. There are some who, frustrated by the complete failure of the Naxalism, but unable to accept this truth, are taking up the pen again, having lived a good part of their lives in the safe confines of the city. They are trying to prove 2 things, 1) No development in this region for the last 34 years; 2) Maoists have apparently started off developmental work in the two blocks of Binpur since Nov, ’08.
What would this development be? Before we start judging this, we need to see the path that development has taken the last 34 yrs in these blocks of red Junglemahal. We should also parallely study the general Maoist position on all matters related to development & what the CPI(M)’s position has been on development?
The party program approved by the 9th congress of the Maoists, in 2007 says – no development is possible in the current structure of the state. Development is not a part of their political position. In fact, they consider even partial development, aimed at reducing the poverty of the poor & the exploited, to be a betrayal or revisionism of the revolution. Why, then are they raising this bogie of development? It is just a part of their political strategy. Like all the other bourgeoisie-capitalist parties & the media, they too want to establish, with this false propaganda, the left front having done nothing for the poor man.
The CPI (M) view on development, however, is completely clear. In his book, ‘Cynicism in the name of Maoism’, Comrade Anil Biswas has rightfully stated, “West Bengal is the foremost state in the entire country in matters of poverty alleviation & human development indices. The left front government has always advanced by establishing a clear difference in its policies vis-à-vis other parties. There is a fast growing disparity on economic, social & regional lines. How does one then fantasise that a left front government, just an oasis amidst this environment of extreme capitalism & liberalisation, can shield West Bengal from its disastrous affect. Parallely, CPI(M) in its 21st congress under the resolution of “ The Left front government & our work” has proposed, ‘ To expect a left front government, born out of democratic revolution to override the obvious reactionary effects of hyper-capitalism, & bring about socialism or even a left alternative is not in the realm of reality. The party will try creating & implementing the “Alternative Policy”, highlighted in the party manifesto & protecting the interests of the poor & the dispossessed sections of society to its fullest.
The left front government primary objective is to try protecting the interests of the weakest sections of the society in this hyper-capitalist environment. So is the perspective of development & the class direction! Therefore, by putting such a government into danger, making the CPI(M) the primary target of attack, what could be the possible revolutionary objective being achieved by the Maoists? In reality, they are disarming the weakest sections, which are battling the neo-liberal economic policies & imperialism.
What has been the role played by the Maoists on the subject of development? They have willfully destroyed government property one after the other, forgetting that these have been built with the common man’s money & for his development. Neither have they faltered in brutally beating up poor workers engaged in developmental work, in Kankrajhod, on 4th Dec, 2004, for their rasta-roko campaign. The govt, in Belpahari had taken the decision of creating a lake to enhance farming. The Maoists, betrayed their true element by even threatening the poor villagers to sabotage this. It is their terrorist obstruction which has prevented 20,000 pattas of land from being distributed in West Medinipur & Bankura forest regions. So much for speaking up for development!!
On this issue, let us once go back to Nov, 2008. On the 2nd of Nov, at Shalboni, the convoy carrying the Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, Union Steel minister, Ramvilas Paswan was exploded using an IED by the Maoists. While the Maoists have taken responsibility for this murderous attack, their new-found ally in the state, Trinamul’s leader, Mamata Banerjee curiously, dubbed this‘eyewash’. Right after this, from the 6th of Nov, they unleashed terror in 2 blocks of Binpur, Jhargram, Garbeta-1, Sarenga, Balarampur, etc; obstructed & even destroyed roads, gutted bridges, murderous attacks on CPI(M) workers & even their family & quite a few murders too. A resident of Aamlia village, Lalgarh, Trinamul leader Chattradhar Mahato became the spokesman of the newly created committee, “PCPA”, its main office in Lalgarh bordering Dalilpur Chowk in Shinjua panchayat.
This committee quickly announced its charter comprising 11 demands. These ranges from abrogating the conspiracy case against Shashadhar Mahato, stop police vigil from 5-6 pm, cancel all chargesheets against arrested Maoists since 1998 & other such demands to facilitate destruction. There is not a single one involving developmental issues! Thereafter, at a press conference at the Press club on the 29th of Jan, 2009, Chatradhar admits that they haven’t raised the issue of development in their movement since the 6th of Nov, their movement being primarily against exploitation & for democracy. Chatradhar, that day, with a fair bit of élan, had proclaimed, ‘it is not that the moment I ask for development, it will be given. It takes time’.
Surprising, this bogie of development is being brought up again to the forefront while discussing this region. This time too, it is both the Trinamul & the Maoists who, together are attempting to confuse the people of this region by harping on this issue. Reason, the imminent elections! Ravaged by cynicism, anarchy, the people of Jhargram in the last Lok Sabha elections returned the Left front candidate with a lead of 2 lacs, 92 thousand & 345 votes over the joint opposition. The left front won this LS constituency comprising the Binpur, Jhargram, Shalboni areas. Therefore, let’s raise the boogie of development again! Not just in the Junglemahal area, the attempt is to embroil the entire tribal population in the state. What chilling hypocrisy!
Land Reforms
It is imperative that we judge the overall development of this region, the principal point being land-relations. Land reforms have taken place in this state, though not ideal, something impossible in our country’s governance structure. However, by leveraging the provisions provided by the constitution, it was pushed to the hilt in Bengal. So far, more than 13.13 lac acres have been acquired in Bengal, off which 11 lac acres have been distributed. The rest have been stopped through litigation by vested interests, quite a few of them Trinamul leaders now, some workers. So much for “Change”.29lac, 85 thousand persons have received pattas of the land distributed so far, which includes about 11.1 lac from the scheduled classes. Adivasis have received 5.37 lac pattas. In Bengal, the scheduled classes & adivasis form 30% of the population whereas they have received 55% of the pattas distributed. Interestingly, Jadavpur Univ professor, Amit Bhattacharjee, curiously claims, in his article in the Economic & Political weekly that it was Charu Mazumdar who first raised the demand for total land reforms. He also goes on to allege that the distribution of land has not touched the Junglemahal area, including Lalgarh. But then, absolute land reform has been the primary demand of the Indian Communist movement from the very beginning. The CPI (M), born on 1964 led movements across numerous states in the country on this demand. Therefore, to ascribe this demand to a person, let alone the Naxals is completely erroneous.
It is under this situation that the Bengal Left front government has kept pushing the agenda of land distribution. Why just the left front government, this demand had set on fire the kishan movement across the state. Even then, the Naxal faction had dubbed this revisionist. Statistics prove that 8727 hectares have been declared excess by the state government in just the Binpur-1 block area, better known as the Lalgarh area now, about 7953 hectares + in Jhargram. The number of families covered by the land reforms here total 26,878. Garbeta-2 block, better known as the Goaltore area has seen an announcement of about an excess of 7051 hectares. Patta recipients number 20,666 families here. Shalboni has seen distribution of 10,439 hectares of land amongst 30,855 families, 1961 hectares in Gopiballavpur, 3680 hectares in Nayagram. 73% of the total land is in the possession of small & mid-sized farmers. As across the state, excess land has been distributed amongst the landless in this region.
Incidentally, the Yojana Commission in its report, in 2008, ‘ Development challenges in extremist affected areas’ has said that land distribution as per the land ceiling act in the states of West Bengal, Kerala & Maharashtra is unmatched across the country. It goes on to say “Acquisition of excess land as per the land ceiling has ceased in most parts of the country for the last 3 decades. It is as if there is no opportunity at all left in this regard.’ The only exceptions are West Bengal & Kerala. In this regard, it is important to mention the land distribution activity in the forest areas. It has been possible, so far, to distribute 18,360 pattas in these areas, resulting in the forest dwellers getting in excess of 8000 hectares. Currently, Maoist terrorism has resulted in a failure in granting about 20,000+ pattas. They need to accept responsibility. Development?
Development of Adivasis & West Bengal
5.5 % of the state’s population is Adivasi, totaling about 44 lacs, of which, according to the 2002 population survey, 22.24lac being male & 21.83 lac female.28% of Bengal’s planned expenditure is targeted at scheduled castes & tribes, out of which a disproportionate share, vis-à-vis their population is spent on Adivasis-7.9%. This is unmatched by most of the states in the country.
Nowhere in the country is there a pension plan for the tribal aged. Bengal has it. The aged, above 60 & living below the poverty line is supported by a pension in this state.1.21lac persons were covered by this scheme in the yr. 2008-09, provided with 750 rupees per month. It is being planned to enhance the coverage. All this funded by the state.Rs.16,50,256 was spent in Purulia on this scheme in the yr,08-09. This pension covers about 50,000 persons in the 3 districts of Purulia, Bankura & West Medinipur, at a total expense of Rs.48cr. While it has no plans to introducing this scheme across the country, the center has applauded the state govt. on this initiative.
The government has also focused on the task of spreading education amongst the tribals. Statistics show that, in 2008-09, Rs.5.05 cr was spent to enable 3.05 lac students to buy books & examination charges. Significantly, this scheme covered 15,352 students in the yr.77-78. 48000 students across 1395 colleges were provided with grants for hostel stay in the yr, 08-09, totaling Rs. 26 crs. In the yr, 07-08, 3.6 lac students were provided with Rs.1.72 crs for transportation to colleges. This scheme, providing transportation relief is unique across the country. This apart, 40,000 of the brightest students have been helped with Rs.45 lacs for higher studies. The subsidy for post-Madhyamik students in the scheduled castes & tribes is to the tune of Rs.10.71crs.The state’s 5 Eklavya colleges have 2100 students & the govt has spent Rs.3.6 crs on their education. Interestingly, the central govt provides only Rs.2.5 crs for building Eklavya colleges & our state government spends double that amount & creates the education infrastructure. Rs. 15 crs is being spent to build 5 Pandit Raghunath Murmu colleges.
The government has also put special focus on educating the Adivasi girl child. Amongst other blocks, Belpahari too has a residential girl school. It is important to mention the efforts of the govt in getting recognition for the Santhali language & its cirricullum. The cynics have pointed towards this, whereas it is the pressure of the left front which has forced the central govt to grant this recognition. It is in Goaltore, very close to Lalgarh, parts of which have been destabilized by the Maoist, where students of the Santhal Revolt centenary College are being taught in the Santhali medium. West Medinipur itself has 57 primary schools where the Alchiki script is taught. In order to further improve the study of & in this language, 1103 out of 1171 adivasi primary teachers have been provided training on the Alchiki script.
Well, that explains a certain letter which reaches the assembly. This letter has been sent by a school, Pandit Raghunath Murmu Memorial School, in the Ramgarh “Shaluka” of Lalgarh. This is a Santhali medium school. The villagers themselves had built this school. The managing committee of the school mostly comprises local leaders of Trinamul & Jharkhand parties. The same coalition rules over the panchayat too. This missive signed by the Panchayat Pradhan, A.N. Dule, member , Dukhi Soren & 9 other members says, “ The West Bengal government, on the 5th of July, 1979, gave recognition to the Alchiki script to aid studies in the Santhali language, approval no. W-311. The government took it further & by the yr. 1982-83, textbooks up to Class -5, in the Alchiki script, were printed…..” West Bengal is unique in this regard, across the entire country of India. The letter further states,”…It is with the intent of uplifting the education of the Santhali students that we teach this from Class-1 to Class-4.” Their demand in this letter lies ensconced right in the very center of the state govt’s policy. Significantly, apart from the 57 schools in West Medinipur, there are many such schools in Purulia, Bardhamaan & Bankura.
In tandem with education, employment programs have been executed too. Work education programs have been created for the Adivasi students of this state. 400 students have studied in Polytechnics in the yr. 2007-08 alone. The govt has also run numerous programs along with ATDC, CIL, TCPC. The Central govt has been forced to acknowledge the consistent development programs for the Adivasis, even providing a bonus of Rs.3 crs for the state. This part, the state has been leading in its endeavour to create self employment programs for the adivasis, deserving of special mention are the plans to strengthen the Adivasi woman. This scheme allows a Adivasi woman to do business with a capital of around Rs.20-25 thousand, 90% of which is given as a loan. This is provided by the state’s “Adivasi Unnayan Nigam”. The remaining 10% is provided by the state as a grant or a subsidy. West Bengal has 65% more than all the women across India who have benefited from this program, fiscal yrs. 06-07 & 07-08. These 2 yrs have seen more than19,000 benefit from this scheme, 55% of which lies in the three districts of Purulia, Bankura & West Medinipur. Interestingly, more than 80% of the loans taken in these 2 yrs have been repaid, unparalleled across the country. The central Adivasi development committee have come & conducted a detailed study of this success, post which not only have they praised the state’s role but also formally mentioned, by written communication, that Bengal should be the model for the entire country.
Now, specifically, the second program that began, solely for Adivasi women, is the subsidy for their self-help groups. Under the supervision of the state’s Adivasi development cooperative corporation, 3000 adivasi women self-help groups will be provided subsidy to strengthen production & promotion. A majority of these groups are based out of West Medinipur, Bankura & Purulia. Rs. 5 cr & 26.4 lacs will be spent on this account. It has been reported that work has already commenced. In Bankura, Medinipur, Purulia, there are 14 such blocks where the Adivasi population exceed 90%. These are named ITDP blocks. Small infrastructure projects such as roads, ditches, irrigation canals, culverts have been funded to the tune of Rs.13.1 crs in the yr., 2008-09. The state has plans of spending about Rs.10.14 crs on employment generation programs.
Recently, the state has embarked on another program, identifying, thru a comprehensive survey, all the adivasi farming families caught in a debt trap with local Mahajans. The pilot in Doars identified 41 such debt-ridden families & now the govt plans to extend the survey to all the 18 districts, esp., targeting the adivasi majority blocks, which wd be done first. However, special plans will be made for the Mao-terror affected & bloody region of Junglemahal.
We have seen significant progress in reaching clean drinking water to these 3 districts, characterized by an extremely dry terrain & a lack of water sources. It is worth mentioning here that, Amit Bhattacharya’s article which credits the Maoists for mini-development projects & installation of submersible pumps, is clearly based on ‘hearsay’. It wd be to his benefit to know that his data is completely false. He should know that prior to the Left front coming into power, not even 10% of the mouzas in this Junglemahal region had tube wells providing drinking water. Currently, there is not a single inhabited mouza without one. 69 irrigation schemes have been started. Thousands of fresh water wells have been dug. A Mahkuma hospital apart, 13 block health centers, 335 health sub-centers have been opened in Junglemahal. The number of beds has increased by 346. A 60 bed hospital is being built at Belpahari.3284 child health clinics have been instituted. Lakhs of people have benefited with these programs that provide care to pregnant mothers, the new born child & children up to 6 yrs of age. 90% of the homes have now constructed toilets, and health consciousness has grown. The mortality rates of pregnant women & babies have come down. Rs. 35.74 crs of money has been spent in the fiscal 08-09 to provide drinking water to these 3 districts. This year might see a spending of another 40 crs. This apart, the irrigation projects have an outlay of Rs.15 crs, just for this 3 districts. There are 30 schemes to bring water to villages through pipelines at Purulia, 51 in Bankura & 64 in W Medinipur. In all, 185 such schemes are benefitting 15.03 lac people, which comprises of 1.37lac adivasis. In all the 3 districts, all adivasi majority villages are being provided drinking by laying water pipes. The govt, in the last one year has provided drinking water to 2258 colleges.
In all the 3 districts the state has emphasized improvement in the nutrition available to children & the just born. There are 74 ICDS projects & 17,932 anganwadi centers in this region, covering about 10 lac, 54 thousand, 317 people.
In this period, these 3 districts have been given 776 kms of permanent roads, with another 274 kms being work in progress.
Under the Indira housing project, 29,970 families, living below the poverty line, have been provided with housing, by Dec 2009.The state has undertaken creation of another 15 thousand houses.
The 100 day work project – Obstacles & Progress
It seems that the Kishenjis have apparently initiated the “ Lalgarh rural employment guarantee scheme( Maoist)” at Lalgarh. Amit Bhattacharjee says so in his article. He apparently landed this nugget of wisdom in an English daily, dated 24th June, a page dedicated to the yr.2009. Shocking!? For people who do not believe in a parliamentary democracy, consider the country’s middle-class as petty bourgeoisie, how do they take as gospel reports of a commercially motivated newspaper dependant on ad dollars from greedy multinationals? This is an example of the depths ideological poverty could go to. However, the entire responsibility of the debilitating loss caused to the NREGA & 100 days work programs goes completely to the likes of Chatradhar Mahato & the Maoists. Inspite of such a negative ideology, on a whole, the outlay for the 100-day work program in Purulia has increased by 179% & work days have grown by 147%. This is a record! The progress in Bankura & West Medinipur is equally worth a mention. In all, the work days in this Junglemahal region this year has grown by 103%.
In Bankura, the adivasis have contributed to 20.24% of the gross workdays created, 24.99% in West Medinipur, 25.96% in Purulia. A recent report of the state govt says – firstly, in the case of the 100-day work program in West Medinipur, Rs.59.592crs has been spent till Dec, 2008. The amount spent from Jan, 2009 till Dec, 2009 has increased to Rs.117 crs, 51 lac & 4 thousand, the rate of growth being 97.19%. In this district the no of workdays (man days) have grown by 41 lac, 79 thousand, rate of growth being 84.87%. Bankura, in the same period has seen the expenditure increase from Rs.50.358 cr to Rs.90.298 crs, rate of growth – 79%. In Bankura, the man days have increased to 66.95 lacs, an increase of 94.79%. It has increased by 146.95% in Purulia, actual expenditure increasing from Rs. 25.11 crs to Rs. 70.19 cr, an increase of 179.57%.
The Adivasi cooperatives, Lamps are being used to facilitate these 100-day work programs. There are 63 such Lamps. The picture would be left incomplete without mentioning that quite a few pantheist in this region have not utilized this 100-day work program. The reason, the adivasi loving Maoist & their sympathizers! They have completely destroyed the atmosphere conducive to work. We can use a couple of panchayat samities for a comparison. Binpur-2 had only a couple of panchayats to avail of this 100-day work program, Binpur & Andharia, with 2731 workdays created last year, of which Andharia has only 5 days. Significantly, this panchayat is run by a Trinamul-Jharkhand party coalition. On the other hand, Binpur -2 panchayat samiti, better known as Belpahari, saw all its panchayats, with the exception of Bhulabheda, implement this program. In comparison with the Binpur-1,Lalgarh samities, the workdays created were much more – 68,150 days. While both these samities are plagued by Mao terrorism, it is important to note that the Belpahari area had a CPI (M) run panchayat samiti, having come into power after 20 long years. The CPI (M) workers have tried their best to keep the atmosphere conducive for executing this program.
Therefore, it is crystal clear that the Maoist point of view towards development is the extremely opposite to the CPI (M) efforts. This, unfortunately, is being exploited by the Trinamul leaders in places such as Lalgarh, garnished by the fantasies spun by a few Kolkata based Maoist websites egged on by intellectuals such as Amit Bhattacharjee.
In the subject of development, it is important to compare the other states of India with West Bengal. Since the Maoist & its sympathizers have repeatedly raise the bogie of Adivasi development in the Junglemahal region, let us see how a similar state, Jharkhand has fared. Jharkhand’s current chief minister, Shri Shibu Soren has always demanded the inclusion of the border areas on Bengal side to be merged with its western areas. The Maoists, with an ingeniously flawed logic have even supported this demand. But this sate which was built & known as one belonging to the adivasis doesn’t even have a department for adivasi development, 10 years since its birth. Numerous hunger related deaths have been reported every year since 2000, a single month of Nov-09 saw 20 deaths caused by hunger, which included 3 children. This is unimaginable in Bengal.
Bengal has 555 grain silos in the Adivasi region, none in Jharkhand. Neither do they have any plans. On the other hand, Bengal has further sanctioned another 500 such silos. Locations are being identified. An expenditure of Rs.2.5 crs will be incurred on this account, each costing about Rs.50k. Adivasi villages, during the cropping season, deposit a part of their output in these silos, to be used in times of low or bad yields. The last 4 years have seen the construction of 555 such silos, 250 of them coming up in the fiscal, 07-08 itself. As stated earlier, these help bridge the shortfall in agri output in the less-fertile regions of the state.
The idea of Jharkhand created its space in Indian politics by seeking a state for the indigenous Adivasi population. Yet, this very state, in its 10 yrs of existence, having had governments of all the national parties, has not seen a single piece of such infrastructure. The result being countless hunger-deaths! In 2008, 3 children died due to hunger in the Birhar colony, Jharnakund village in the Jhumari Talaiya block in Koderma. Bithahit, in Chatra district saw 9 people of the Bega tribe die due to hunger. There is nothing more pathetic than hunger-death in a country like India, but what takes the cake is the Shibu Soren government’s attempt to pass off all these deaths due to poisoning. However the committee, instituted to investigate these deaths, has clearly stated hunger as the reason. This apart, Jharkhand doesn’t come anywhere near to Bengal on parameters such as education, self-reliance, health of the adivasi people. Why then this Maoist chicanery?
But is all this enough? The CPI (M) does not think so. The state govt has identified 4612 villages which are languishing. The last year has seen a separate allocation of Rs.17 crs, apart from all the other schemes. But then, it is important to understand that comprehensive development is impossible in the current ultra-capitalist econo-political environment. For real sustainable development, a government which fundamentally identifies with the people is required, for which you need a fundamental change of the politics, the environment, right at the center, across the nation, not just a state. Well, as long as all this is reality, we communists have to keep fighting to protect & extend the limited means the poor can use & go ahead in life. In reality, these efforts of taking development ahead, whatever little is possible, along with the people, is actually in line with the objectives of class struggle. We want to grow our class-conscious actions. This is the reason why the CPI(M) continuous to identify the weakest areas, a sensibility developed by a clear understanding of the constraints of the current system. The imperialist-bourgeoisie refuses to work for the people even when there are opportunities, it is for the CPI(M) to take up these initiatives.
The Maoists clearly do not think so. The policy of keeping themselves & the people away from developmental work only strengthens the fundamental objectives of the ruling class. Why? Comrade Lenin’s analysis was – ‘The petty-bourgeoisie, driven by the madness of the horror named capitalism, is a social reality, a specialty, which like anarchy, exists in every country. The instability of such a revolution, its sterile nature & a tendency to quickly surrender, cynicism, fantasy & even petty-bourgeoisie whims & mad frenzy is known to all.
Junglemahal comprises of parts of 5 districts in the western region of the state, larger chunks belonging to West Medinipur & Purulia, followed by Bankura. Bardhamaan & Birbhum have small contributions. In all, 74 blocks under the state’s development council for the western region, of which, 18 belong to W Medinipur, 20 to Purulia & 16 with Bankura. However, not all of these belong to the much talked disturbed region. The Maoists have not even set foot on all of these areas.
The areas plagued by the Maoist terrorism are parts of W Medinipur; Binpur-2(the hub being Belpahari), Binpur-1( Lalgarh), Shalboni, Jhargram, Garbeta-2( Goaltore), Aarsha, Balarampur, Bandowan, Bagmundi, Barabazaar in Purulia; Sarenga & Raniband in Bankura. This apart, Khairashol in Birbhum, parts of Manbazaar in Purulia, W Medinipur’s Gopiballavpur, Medinipur Sadar, Sankrail & some parts Nayagram in Medinipur are victims of the Maoist destructive agenda.
An oft repeated propaganda cites lack of development as the primary reason for the rise in influence of the Maoists. However, we need to appreciate the role of geography as the biggest hurdle; unfertile soil, uneven rough terrain. This region has only 55.45% fertile soil as opposed to the state average of 66.03%. Forests occupy 13.8% of the state, this western region, however, has 19.3%. Has less rainfall comparatively. Marginal workers comprise 8.05% across the state, while this region has an average of 35.7%. IIT Kharagpur, under the aegis of the state’s department of development for this western region has published a comprehensive report on this region, in Jan, 2007, citing 20 of the 74 blocks as being backward. The ones terrorized by the Maoists are Binpur-2, Bandowan, Bagmundi, Aarsha. On the other hand, blocks such as Sarenga, Sankrail, Goaltore, Medinipur Sadar, Jhargram are amongst the most developed. Therefore, the logic of non-development as a justification for terrorism, destruction & murder is a false one.
The real reason lies in the “Jungle” being at the center of the Maoist war strategy. They have chosen harsh terrain, mountains, forest-ridden regions for their so called ‘revolutionary agenda’. Also, it is their stated policy.
These locations, have primarily witnessed secret murders on account of the “revolutionary” activities of the Maoists. History is a witness to the fact that secret murders of individual terrorism had never reared its ugly head throughout the Chuad revolt, Munda uprising or the Indian freedom movements that followed in this Junglemahal area, the reason being social. Junglemahal has, primarily been organized, community based living being the established form. Protests, Resistance, festivals or even daily livelihood have all been united & community led. This harsh, un-fertile, forest ridden region of West Bengal has the essential character suitable to a communist movement. The falsehood of the middle-class, petty-bourgeoisie impulsive ‘annihilation’ has never made a mark in this forest region paved with Mahua & Shal. Pre & post-independence times have seen a series of movements led by the leftists, mostly by communists; struggle for land being at the core. The era of Naxalite delusion saw only a handful of villagers from a few pockets in Belpahari, Gopiballavpur, Jhargram, etc becoming workers or sympathisers of certain groupings of the Naxalites, but was never able to establish their tactic of secret murders in this region. Therefore, the Maoists have been completely wrong in their analysis of the situation from the very beginning. They have had to consistently retreat in Lalgarh & the credit doesn’t entirely go to the joint forces. The Maoists have not been able to get a safe haven in these villages, nestled deep in the hills & forests. The villagers are getting increasingly impatient for peace & want liberty from the blood drenched clutches of the Maoists.
Subject “Development”
Their current discomfiture has suddenly reminded the Maoists of ‘development’. That it is the Maoists & their fronts who create the roadblocks to development is increasingly becoming clear to people. It is also a desperate attempt at shoring up their image with the urbane intellectuals that development makes an entry into the destructive Maoist lexicon. There are some who, frustrated by the complete failure of the Naxalism, but unable to accept this truth, are taking up the pen again, having lived a good part of their lives in the safe confines of the city. They are trying to prove 2 things, 1) No development in this region for the last 34 years; 2) Maoists have apparently started off developmental work in the two blocks of Binpur since Nov, ’08.
What would this development be? Before we start judging this, we need to see the path that development has taken the last 34 yrs in these blocks of red Junglemahal. We should also parallely study the general Maoist position on all matters related to development & what the CPI(M)’s position has been on development?
The party program approved by the 9th congress of the Maoists, in 2007 says – no development is possible in the current structure of the state. Development is not a part of their political position. In fact, they consider even partial development, aimed at reducing the poverty of the poor & the exploited, to be a betrayal or revisionism of the revolution. Why, then are they raising this bogie of development? It is just a part of their political strategy. Like all the other bourgeoisie-capitalist parties & the media, they too want to establish, with this false propaganda, the left front having done nothing for the poor man.
The CPI (M) view on development, however, is completely clear. In his book, ‘Cynicism in the name of Maoism’, Comrade Anil Biswas has rightfully stated, “West Bengal is the foremost state in the entire country in matters of poverty alleviation & human development indices. The left front government has always advanced by establishing a clear difference in its policies vis-à-vis other parties. There is a fast growing disparity on economic, social & regional lines. How does one then fantasise that a left front government, just an oasis amidst this environment of extreme capitalism & liberalisation, can shield West Bengal from its disastrous affect. Parallely, CPI(M) in its 21st congress under the resolution of “ The Left front government & our work” has proposed, ‘ To expect a left front government, born out of democratic revolution to override the obvious reactionary effects of hyper-capitalism, & bring about socialism or even a left alternative is not in the realm of reality. The party will try creating & implementing the “Alternative Policy”, highlighted in the party manifesto & protecting the interests of the poor & the dispossessed sections of society to its fullest.
The left front government primary objective is to try protecting the interests of the weakest sections of the society in this hyper-capitalist environment. So is the perspective of development & the class direction! Therefore, by putting such a government into danger, making the CPI(M) the primary target of attack, what could be the possible revolutionary objective being achieved by the Maoists? In reality, they are disarming the weakest sections, which are battling the neo-liberal economic policies & imperialism.
What has been the role played by the Maoists on the subject of development? They have willfully destroyed government property one after the other, forgetting that these have been built with the common man’s money & for his development. Neither have they faltered in brutally beating up poor workers engaged in developmental work, in Kankrajhod, on 4th Dec, 2004, for their rasta-roko campaign. The govt, in Belpahari had taken the decision of creating a lake to enhance farming. The Maoists, betrayed their true element by even threatening the poor villagers to sabotage this. It is their terrorist obstruction which has prevented 20,000 pattas of land from being distributed in West Medinipur & Bankura forest regions. So much for speaking up for development!!
On this issue, let us once go back to Nov, 2008. On the 2nd of Nov, at Shalboni, the convoy carrying the Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, Union Steel minister, Ramvilas Paswan was exploded using an IED by the Maoists. While the Maoists have taken responsibility for this murderous attack, their new-found ally in the state, Trinamul’s leader, Mamata Banerjee curiously, dubbed this‘eyewash’. Right after this, from the 6th of Nov, they unleashed terror in 2 blocks of Binpur, Jhargram, Garbeta-1, Sarenga, Balarampur, etc; obstructed & even destroyed roads, gutted bridges, murderous attacks on CPI(M) workers & even their family & quite a few murders too. A resident of Aamlia village, Lalgarh, Trinamul leader Chattradhar Mahato became the spokesman of the newly created committee, “PCPA”, its main office in Lalgarh bordering Dalilpur Chowk in Shinjua panchayat.
This committee quickly announced its charter comprising 11 demands. These ranges from abrogating the conspiracy case against Shashadhar Mahato, stop police vigil from 5-6 pm, cancel all chargesheets against arrested Maoists since 1998 & other such demands to facilitate destruction. There is not a single one involving developmental issues! Thereafter, at a press conference at the Press club on the 29th of Jan, 2009, Chatradhar admits that they haven’t raised the issue of development in their movement since the 6th of Nov, their movement being primarily against exploitation & for democracy. Chatradhar, that day, with a fair bit of élan, had proclaimed, ‘it is not that the moment I ask for development, it will be given. It takes time’.
Surprising, this bogie of development is being brought up again to the forefront while discussing this region. This time too, it is both the Trinamul & the Maoists who, together are attempting to confuse the people of this region by harping on this issue. Reason, the imminent elections! Ravaged by cynicism, anarchy, the people of Jhargram in the last Lok Sabha elections returned the Left front candidate with a lead of 2 lacs, 92 thousand & 345 votes over the joint opposition. The left front won this LS constituency comprising the Binpur, Jhargram, Shalboni areas. Therefore, let’s raise the boogie of development again! Not just in the Junglemahal area, the attempt is to embroil the entire tribal population in the state. What chilling hypocrisy!
Land Reforms
It is imperative that we judge the overall development of this region, the principal point being land-relations. Land reforms have taken place in this state, though not ideal, something impossible in our country’s governance structure. However, by leveraging the provisions provided by the constitution, it was pushed to the hilt in Bengal. So far, more than 13.13 lac acres have been acquired in Bengal, off which 11 lac acres have been distributed. The rest have been stopped through litigation by vested interests, quite a few of them Trinamul leaders now, some workers. So much for “Change”.29lac, 85 thousand persons have received pattas of the land distributed so far, which includes about 11.1 lac from the scheduled classes. Adivasis have received 5.37 lac pattas. In Bengal, the scheduled classes & adivasis form 30% of the population whereas they have received 55% of the pattas distributed. Interestingly, Jadavpur Univ professor, Amit Bhattacharjee, curiously claims, in his article in the Economic & Political weekly that it was Charu Mazumdar who first raised the demand for total land reforms. He also goes on to allege that the distribution of land has not touched the Junglemahal area, including Lalgarh. But then, absolute land reform has been the primary demand of the Indian Communist movement from the very beginning. The CPI (M), born on 1964 led movements across numerous states in the country on this demand. Therefore, to ascribe this demand to a person, let alone the Naxals is completely erroneous.
It is under this situation that the Bengal Left front government has kept pushing the agenda of land distribution. Why just the left front government, this demand had set on fire the kishan movement across the state. Even then, the Naxal faction had dubbed this revisionist. Statistics prove that 8727 hectares have been declared excess by the state government in just the Binpur-1 block area, better known as the Lalgarh area now, about 7953 hectares + in Jhargram. The number of families covered by the land reforms here total 26,878. Garbeta-2 block, better known as the Goaltore area has seen an announcement of about an excess of 7051 hectares. Patta recipients number 20,666 families here. Shalboni has seen distribution of 10,439 hectares of land amongst 30,855 families, 1961 hectares in Gopiballavpur, 3680 hectares in Nayagram. 73% of the total land is in the possession of small & mid-sized farmers. As across the state, excess land has been distributed amongst the landless in this region.
Incidentally, the Yojana Commission in its report, in 2008, ‘ Development challenges in extremist affected areas’ has said that land distribution as per the land ceiling act in the states of West Bengal, Kerala & Maharashtra is unmatched across the country. It goes on to say “Acquisition of excess land as per the land ceiling has ceased in most parts of the country for the last 3 decades. It is as if there is no opportunity at all left in this regard.’ The only exceptions are West Bengal & Kerala. In this regard, it is important to mention the land distribution activity in the forest areas. It has been possible, so far, to distribute 18,360 pattas in these areas, resulting in the forest dwellers getting in excess of 8000 hectares. Currently, Maoist terrorism has resulted in a failure in granting about 20,000+ pattas. They need to accept responsibility. Development?
Development of Adivasis & West Bengal
5.5 % of the state’s population is Adivasi, totaling about 44 lacs, of which, according to the 2002 population survey, 22.24lac being male & 21.83 lac female.28% of Bengal’s planned expenditure is targeted at scheduled castes & tribes, out of which a disproportionate share, vis-à-vis their population is spent on Adivasis-7.9%. This is unmatched by most of the states in the country.
Nowhere in the country is there a pension plan for the tribal aged. Bengal has it. The aged, above 60 & living below the poverty line is supported by a pension in this state.1.21lac persons were covered by this scheme in the yr. 2008-09, provided with 750 rupees per month. It is being planned to enhance the coverage. All this funded by the state.Rs.16,50,256 was spent in Purulia on this scheme in the yr,08-09. This pension covers about 50,000 persons in the 3 districts of Purulia, Bankura & West Medinipur, at a total expense of Rs.48cr. While it has no plans to introducing this scheme across the country, the center has applauded the state govt. on this initiative.
The government has also focused on the task of spreading education amongst the tribals. Statistics show that, in 2008-09, Rs.5.05 cr was spent to enable 3.05 lac students to buy books & examination charges. Significantly, this scheme covered 15,352 students in the yr.77-78. 48000 students across 1395 colleges were provided with grants for hostel stay in the yr, 08-09, totaling Rs. 26 crs. In the yr, 07-08, 3.6 lac students were provided with Rs.1.72 crs for transportation to colleges. This scheme, providing transportation relief is unique across the country. This apart, 40,000 of the brightest students have been helped with Rs.45 lacs for higher studies. The subsidy for post-Madhyamik students in the scheduled castes & tribes is to the tune of Rs.10.71crs.The state’s 5 Eklavya colleges have 2100 students & the govt has spent Rs.3.6 crs on their education. Interestingly, the central govt provides only Rs.2.5 crs for building Eklavya colleges & our state government spends double that amount & creates the education infrastructure. Rs. 15 crs is being spent to build 5 Pandit Raghunath Murmu colleges.
The government has also put special focus on educating the Adivasi girl child. Amongst other blocks, Belpahari too has a residential girl school. It is important to mention the efforts of the govt in getting recognition for the Santhali language & its cirricullum. The cynics have pointed towards this, whereas it is the pressure of the left front which has forced the central govt to grant this recognition. It is in Goaltore, very close to Lalgarh, parts of which have been destabilized by the Maoist, where students of the Santhal Revolt centenary College are being taught in the Santhali medium. West Medinipur itself has 57 primary schools where the Alchiki script is taught. In order to further improve the study of & in this language, 1103 out of 1171 adivasi primary teachers have been provided training on the Alchiki script.
Well, that explains a certain letter which reaches the assembly. This letter has been sent by a school, Pandit Raghunath Murmu Memorial School, in the Ramgarh “Shaluka” of Lalgarh. This is a Santhali medium school. The villagers themselves had built this school. The managing committee of the school mostly comprises local leaders of Trinamul & Jharkhand parties. The same coalition rules over the panchayat too. This missive signed by the Panchayat Pradhan, A.N. Dule, member , Dukhi Soren & 9 other members says, “ The West Bengal government, on the 5th of July, 1979, gave recognition to the Alchiki script to aid studies in the Santhali language, approval no. W-311. The government took it further & by the yr. 1982-83, textbooks up to Class -5, in the Alchiki script, were printed…..” West Bengal is unique in this regard, across the entire country of India. The letter further states,”…It is with the intent of uplifting the education of the Santhali students that we teach this from Class-1 to Class-4.” Their demand in this letter lies ensconced right in the very center of the state govt’s policy. Significantly, apart from the 57 schools in West Medinipur, there are many such schools in Purulia, Bardhamaan & Bankura.
In tandem with education, employment programs have been executed too. Work education programs have been created for the Adivasi students of this state. 400 students have studied in Polytechnics in the yr. 2007-08 alone. The govt has also run numerous programs along with ATDC, CIL, TCPC. The Central govt has been forced to acknowledge the consistent development programs for the Adivasis, even providing a bonus of Rs.3 crs for the state. This part, the state has been leading in its endeavour to create self employment programs for the adivasis, deserving of special mention are the plans to strengthen the Adivasi woman. This scheme allows a Adivasi woman to do business with a capital of around Rs.20-25 thousand, 90% of which is given as a loan. This is provided by the state’s “Adivasi Unnayan Nigam”. The remaining 10% is provided by the state as a grant or a subsidy. West Bengal has 65% more than all the women across India who have benefited from this program, fiscal yrs. 06-07 & 07-08. These 2 yrs have seen more than19,000 benefit from this scheme, 55% of which lies in the three districts of Purulia, Bankura & West Medinipur. Interestingly, more than 80% of the loans taken in these 2 yrs have been repaid, unparalleled across the country. The central Adivasi development committee have come & conducted a detailed study of this success, post which not only have they praised the state’s role but also formally mentioned, by written communication, that Bengal should be the model for the entire country.
Now, specifically, the second program that began, solely for Adivasi women, is the subsidy for their self-help groups. Under the supervision of the state’s Adivasi development cooperative corporation, 3000 adivasi women self-help groups will be provided subsidy to strengthen production & promotion. A majority of these groups are based out of West Medinipur, Bankura & Purulia. Rs. 5 cr & 26.4 lacs will be spent on this account. It has been reported that work has already commenced. In Bankura, Medinipur, Purulia, there are 14 such blocks where the Adivasi population exceed 90%. These are named ITDP blocks. Small infrastructure projects such as roads, ditches, irrigation canals, culverts have been funded to the tune of Rs.13.1 crs in the yr., 2008-09. The state has plans of spending about Rs.10.14 crs on employment generation programs.
Recently, the state has embarked on another program, identifying, thru a comprehensive survey, all the adivasi farming families caught in a debt trap with local Mahajans. The pilot in Doars identified 41 such debt-ridden families & now the govt plans to extend the survey to all the 18 districts, esp., targeting the adivasi majority blocks, which wd be done first. However, special plans will be made for the Mao-terror affected & bloody region of Junglemahal.
We have seen significant progress in reaching clean drinking water to these 3 districts, characterized by an extremely dry terrain & a lack of water sources. It is worth mentioning here that, Amit Bhattacharya’s article which credits the Maoists for mini-development projects & installation of submersible pumps, is clearly based on ‘hearsay’. It wd be to his benefit to know that his data is completely false. He should know that prior to the Left front coming into power, not even 10% of the mouzas in this Junglemahal region had tube wells providing drinking water. Currently, there is not a single inhabited mouza without one. 69 irrigation schemes have been started. Thousands of fresh water wells have been dug. A Mahkuma hospital apart, 13 block health centers, 335 health sub-centers have been opened in Junglemahal. The number of beds has increased by 346. A 60 bed hospital is being built at Belpahari.3284 child health clinics have been instituted. Lakhs of people have benefited with these programs that provide care to pregnant mothers, the new born child & children up to 6 yrs of age. 90% of the homes have now constructed toilets, and health consciousness has grown. The mortality rates of pregnant women & babies have come down. Rs. 35.74 crs of money has been spent in the fiscal 08-09 to provide drinking water to these 3 districts. This year might see a spending of another 40 crs. This apart, the irrigation projects have an outlay of Rs.15 crs, just for this 3 districts. There are 30 schemes to bring water to villages through pipelines at Purulia, 51 in Bankura & 64 in W Medinipur. In all, 185 such schemes are benefitting 15.03 lac people, which comprises of 1.37lac adivasis. In all the 3 districts, all adivasi majority villages are being provided drinking by laying water pipes. The govt, in the last one year has provided drinking water to 2258 colleges.
In all the 3 districts the state has emphasized improvement in the nutrition available to children & the just born. There are 74 ICDS projects & 17,932 anganwadi centers in this region, covering about 10 lac, 54 thousand, 317 people.
In this period, these 3 districts have been given 776 kms of permanent roads, with another 274 kms being work in progress.
Under the Indira housing project, 29,970 families, living below the poverty line, have been provided with housing, by Dec 2009.The state has undertaken creation of another 15 thousand houses.
The 100 day work project – Obstacles & Progress
It seems that the Kishenjis have apparently initiated the “ Lalgarh rural employment guarantee scheme( Maoist)” at Lalgarh. Amit Bhattacharjee says so in his article. He apparently landed this nugget of wisdom in an English daily, dated 24th June, a page dedicated to the yr.2009. Shocking!? For people who do not believe in a parliamentary democracy, consider the country’s middle-class as petty bourgeoisie, how do they take as gospel reports of a commercially motivated newspaper dependant on ad dollars from greedy multinationals? This is an example of the depths ideological poverty could go to. However, the entire responsibility of the debilitating loss caused to the NREGA & 100 days work programs goes completely to the likes of Chatradhar Mahato & the Maoists. Inspite of such a negative ideology, on a whole, the outlay for the 100-day work program in Purulia has increased by 179% & work days have grown by 147%. This is a record! The progress in Bankura & West Medinipur is equally worth a mention. In all, the work days in this Junglemahal region this year has grown by 103%.
In Bankura, the adivasis have contributed to 20.24% of the gross workdays created, 24.99% in West Medinipur, 25.96% in Purulia. A recent report of the state govt says – firstly, in the case of the 100-day work program in West Medinipur, Rs.59.592crs has been spent till Dec, 2008. The amount spent from Jan, 2009 till Dec, 2009 has increased to Rs.117 crs, 51 lac & 4 thousand, the rate of growth being 97.19%. In this district the no of workdays (man days) have grown by 41 lac, 79 thousand, rate of growth being 84.87%. Bankura, in the same period has seen the expenditure increase from Rs.50.358 cr to Rs.90.298 crs, rate of growth – 79%. In Bankura, the man days have increased to 66.95 lacs, an increase of 94.79%. It has increased by 146.95% in Purulia, actual expenditure increasing from Rs. 25.11 crs to Rs. 70.19 cr, an increase of 179.57%.
The Adivasi cooperatives, Lamps are being used to facilitate these 100-day work programs. There are 63 such Lamps. The picture would be left incomplete without mentioning that quite a few pantheist in this region have not utilized this 100-day work program. The reason, the adivasi loving Maoist & their sympathizers! They have completely destroyed the atmosphere conducive to work. We can use a couple of panchayat samities for a comparison. Binpur-2 had only a couple of panchayats to avail of this 100-day work program, Binpur & Andharia, with 2731 workdays created last year, of which Andharia has only 5 days. Significantly, this panchayat is run by a Trinamul-Jharkhand party coalition. On the other hand, Binpur -2 panchayat samiti, better known as Belpahari, saw all its panchayats, with the exception of Bhulabheda, implement this program. In comparison with the Binpur-1,Lalgarh samities, the workdays created were much more – 68,150 days. While both these samities are plagued by Mao terrorism, it is important to note that the Belpahari area had a CPI (M) run panchayat samiti, having come into power after 20 long years. The CPI (M) workers have tried their best to keep the atmosphere conducive for executing this program.
Therefore, it is crystal clear that the Maoist point of view towards development is the extremely opposite to the CPI (M) efforts. This, unfortunately, is being exploited by the Trinamul leaders in places such as Lalgarh, garnished by the fantasies spun by a few Kolkata based Maoist websites egged on by intellectuals such as Amit Bhattacharjee.
In the subject of development, it is important to compare the other states of India with West Bengal. Since the Maoist & its sympathizers have repeatedly raise the bogie of Adivasi development in the Junglemahal region, let us see how a similar state, Jharkhand has fared. Jharkhand’s current chief minister, Shri Shibu Soren has always demanded the inclusion of the border areas on Bengal side to be merged with its western areas. The Maoists, with an ingeniously flawed logic have even supported this demand. But this sate which was built & known as one belonging to the adivasis doesn’t even have a department for adivasi development, 10 years since its birth. Numerous hunger related deaths have been reported every year since 2000, a single month of Nov-09 saw 20 deaths caused by hunger, which included 3 children. This is unimaginable in Bengal.
Bengal has 555 grain silos in the Adivasi region, none in Jharkhand. Neither do they have any plans. On the other hand, Bengal has further sanctioned another 500 such silos. Locations are being identified. An expenditure of Rs.2.5 crs will be incurred on this account, each costing about Rs.50k. Adivasi villages, during the cropping season, deposit a part of their output in these silos, to be used in times of low or bad yields. The last 4 years have seen the construction of 555 such silos, 250 of them coming up in the fiscal, 07-08 itself. As stated earlier, these help bridge the shortfall in agri output in the less-fertile regions of the state.
The idea of Jharkhand created its space in Indian politics by seeking a state for the indigenous Adivasi population. Yet, this very state, in its 10 yrs of existence, having had governments of all the national parties, has not seen a single piece of such infrastructure. The result being countless hunger-deaths! In 2008, 3 children died due to hunger in the Birhar colony, Jharnakund village in the Jhumari Talaiya block in Koderma. Bithahit, in Chatra district saw 9 people of the Bega tribe die due to hunger. There is nothing more pathetic than hunger-death in a country like India, but what takes the cake is the Shibu Soren government’s attempt to pass off all these deaths due to poisoning. However the committee, instituted to investigate these deaths, has clearly stated hunger as the reason. This apart, Jharkhand doesn’t come anywhere near to Bengal on parameters such as education, self-reliance, health of the adivasi people. Why then this Maoist chicanery?
But is all this enough? The CPI (M) does not think so. The state govt has identified 4612 villages which are languishing. The last year has seen a separate allocation of Rs.17 crs, apart from all the other schemes. But then, it is important to understand that comprehensive development is impossible in the current ultra-capitalist econo-political environment. For real sustainable development, a government which fundamentally identifies with the people is required, for which you need a fundamental change of the politics, the environment, right at the center, across the nation, not just a state. Well, as long as all this is reality, we communists have to keep fighting to protect & extend the limited means the poor can use & go ahead in life. In reality, these efforts of taking development ahead, whatever little is possible, along with the people, is actually in line with the objectives of class struggle. We want to grow our class-conscious actions. This is the reason why the CPI(M) continuous to identify the weakest areas, a sensibility developed by a clear understanding of the constraints of the current system. The imperialist-bourgeoisie refuses to work for the people even when there are opportunities, it is for the CPI(M) to take up these initiatives.
The Maoists clearly do not think so. The policy of keeping themselves & the people away from developmental work only strengthens the fundamental objectives of the ruling class. Why? Comrade Lenin’s analysis was – ‘The petty-bourgeoisie, driven by the madness of the horror named capitalism, is a social reality, a specialty, which like anarchy, exists in every country. The instability of such a revolution, its sterile nature & a tendency to quickly surrender, cynicism, fantasy & even petty-bourgeoisie whims & mad frenzy is known to all.
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