ACHIVEMENTS of LDF GOVERNMENT IN KERALA

V. S. ACHUTHANANDAN
Chief Minister of Kerala

Let me at the outset congratulate the Ganasakti for this initiative to bring out a compendium on the role of left-led governments in India, especially Left Front govt. in West Bengal. My article will be confined to highlight the advancement in Kerala of the Left politics in general and LDF government in particular.

In the present era of globalization it has become a habit of even social democratic governments to pay special attention to the welfare of the rich than of masses. Only the Left governments are developing policies catering to the needs of masses. LDF government is one among them.

Left in Kerala has a tradition spanning over five decades of implementing a Left agenda. Through various measures including land reforms, democratization of many activities of the state, upholding and extending rights and freedom of workers, peasants, students, youth, women and other sections of people, ensuring social justice for the deprived classes and introducing decentralization at various levels of government, Left governments in Kerala developed a quality of life at a very low per capita expenditure which attracted attention of the whole world. They gave it a pet name, Kerala Model. The challenge has always been to preserve and enrich it in spite of the pro-rich policies of the central government and continuous intervention of UDF governments led by Congress to distort and undermine these popular achievements.

When the present LDF government assumed office, the state was in shambles literally. During the previous UDF rule Kerala, which was famous for religious amity, witnessed a number of communal clashes and murders. A series of sexual atrocities on women were committed. Various dastardly acts had become familiar sight. Now, according to central government records Kerala is the most peaceful state with minimum number of crimes. Communal strifes, atrocities on women and different types of crimes have been contained.

Owing to the neglect of the central government during the NDA and UPA rule, agricultural production, especially of commercial crops, as also their prices, had fallen leading to a large number of suicides by peasants. Central government had done nothing to prevent further loss of life. It was at this time the LDF government assumed office. Kerala also had witnessed suicides by a few hundred farmers during the UDF regime. LDF government appointed a debt commission to study the problem and announced a series of steps in support of families of the farmers who committed suicide and those in the grip of debt. These steps infused confidence among the peasantry so that the trend of suicide came to a stop in Kerala within a few months. The achievement will become evident when one compares it with states like Maharashtra which are still witnessing continued peasant suicides in spite of thousands of crores of rupees spent in the name of Vidarbha package and others.

The LDF government decided to give priority to intervention in primary sector recognizing the fact that it was to this sector the largest section of deprived people belonged. It gave substantial budgetary support to this sector which has infused confidence among people to seriously engage in agricultural operations, dairying and fisheries. LDF government has increased the support price of paddy from Rs 7 per kg in early 2006 to Rs 14 by now. This has resulted in the increase of paddy cultivation area by 60,000 acres and paddy production by about one lakh tons paddy. Production of vegetables, milk, fish, eggs and meat also has recorded marked increase as also income of those engaged in this sector. Cooperative banks have thrived under the patronage of LDF government and through them the government have arranged loans with zero or low interest to the various producers in the primary sector.

Women have gained most under the LDF government. They have been the worst affected by policies of globalization, liberalization and privatization of the UPA and UDF governments. In order to get them employed and able to have their own earnings LDF government organized them into SHGs which are tied together at panchyath, district and state levels through an organization called Kudumbasree which at present has a membership of 37 lakh women organized in about two lakh SHGs. They are engaged in production of paddy, vegetables, milk, meat, in the processing of various agricultural products, in many small scale industrial units and in rendering a number of services.

Majority of workers in Kerala are employed in traditional industries including coir, cashew, handloom, bamboo, etc. Because of the utter neglect of these sections by the central government and previous UDF government, number of days of work and wages they got dwindled in course of time. LDF government intervened in their favour by substantially increasing budget allotment and ensuring that workers got benefit of increase in production and price rise.

During the UDF rule most of the public sector industries were sustaining big losses. For that reason that government tried to close down many of them and even sell them. But the united resistance of workers irrespective of union affiliation prevented their sales. The LDF government on assuming office took effective steps with the cooperation of workers and experts with the result that now almost all of them are making profits. This imparted confidence and courage to the government to start nine new industrial concerns in public sector at a time when at the centre and many states public sector concerns are being handed over to private sector.

LDF government is implementing a major project of providing funds to all BPL families to have their own house. This project is named after E M S Nambudiripad, the first chief minister of Kerala. In the previous two five year plans about 8.5 lakh houses were provided in this manner mainly under the auspices of local bodies. Now, those who do not have any land of their own are being provided with land to put up the house. Most of the beneficiaries are the scheduled sections. If they were to get a house under IAY scheme, they would have had to wait for decades. Also, with the money given by the central government under IAY scheme it is not possible to put up even a hut in Kerala. In order to complete the scheme within the next year local bodies have taken loans amounting to Rs 3000 crores from cooperative banks on state government guarantee.

LDF government has given priority to SCs, STs and minorities in giving assistance of various types. This is based on the policy of social justice adopted by LDF for the past so many decades. The government had declared that one acre of land would be given to every landless tribal family. This assurance is being implemented now. also tens of thousands of landless dalit families have been given small pieces of land. In the matter of accessibility of education, health and so many basic necessities of life in the modern world Kerala has been able to extend them to almost all of these deprived and dispossessed sections. That is the basis of Kerala having a better social justice compared to many other states.

During the last three matriculation examinations the pass per cent in Kerala was more than 90 per cent. This result shows that a large number of children from backward sections pass the examination. This is a welcome change compared to previous years. Though SCs, STs and minorities are still lagging behind in various ways, their lot has substantially improved from what it was earlier.

Another area where Kerala is placed by central government at a higher pedestal is with regard to public distribution. Kerala has historically been a deficit state in the matter of food articles. For this reason some 45 years ago the centre allowed Kerala to have statutory rationing. Also most of articles of daily use come to Kerala from other states. This often gives a chance to traders to fleece the people. LDF governments over the years have developed a network of civil supplies stores and cooperative consumer stores which make wholesale purchase and distribute essential commodities at reasonable prices. Because of these measures which cost six hundred crores of rupees annually at present to government price rise of essential commodities in Kerala is the lowest according to central government.

Health system in Kerala has a huge network of allopathy, ayurveda and homeo hospitals in every panchayath in the form of PHCs, at the block level in the form of CHCs, and as general hospitals at important centers and as district hospitals in every district. New buildings and modern equipments are made available to many of them and necessary staff made available in every hospital. A Medicine Corporation is established to ensure proper availability of medicines in hospitals. Health insurance scheme introduced by central government is implemented in the state in a manner which make it more patient and family friendly.

There is no power cut or load shedding in Kerala for the past few years. This has been achieved by reducing transmission losses substantially and making people introduce CF lamps at their homes and workplaces. New projects to produce energy from a large number of mini and micro units as also from gas based units are in the offing. Kerala has one of the lowest tariff rates in the country.

The state being highly populated and having a network of backwaters, 41 rivers and a large area of marshy and wet lands, confronts with various kinds of environmental issues. The previous UDF government had in the name of development allowed widespread annihilation of forests, wetlands and privatization of public property including water bodies. The central government often invoke environment and forest laws to prevent implementation of projects that are highly essential for the development of the state, while at the same time giving sanction to application of hazardous chemicals in agriculture as pesticides and in industry as raw material. In the northern district of Kasargode a dangerous chemical, Endosulfan, used to be sprayed airily on cashew plantations. Now after so many years of spraying it is found to have caused various kinds of disabilities and diseases to young and old. While the central government still adopts a callous attitude towards the problem, the LDF government is giving health care, assistance of different nature to make the lives of affected people more bearable.

Two questions are to be normally expected: How do you find resources for all these expenditures? Is it enough for a government to bestow attention on socially and economically backward, differently abled and those stricken with diseases?

When LDF took office annual income of Kerala government was About Rs 10,000 crores. By management of resource mobilization this has increased over the years crossing Rs 20.000crores this year. The dictum followed by LDF is to mobilize more resources and meet higher expenses which is different from the dictum of UDF to collect less taxes and spend less. Less expenditure during their tenure meant less benefits and less support to the poorer sections of people. LDF government has cleared all outstanding arrears of welfare pensions due to various sections of deprived people. It has widened the benefits to the deprived by ensuring that there was enough resources to meet such demands.

In Kerala more than 50 per cent of people belong to middle class sections. Their youth, both girls and boys, are educated. They aspire better jobs. To ensure them jobs new avenues are to be created. Due to environmental problems and paucity of industrial raw materials certain kinds of industry are not acceptable to Kerala. IT, tourism, Biotechnology, etc are some of the fields suited to it. In the IT sector projects for two major IT parks at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi and a number of smaller parks in different districts are at different stages of implementation. Already they offer more than 20,000 jobs. Once completed they are expected to offer more than 2,00,000 opportunities of different kinds. Kerala being a tourist destination of people from far and near, tourism industry is bound to grow here offering umpteen job opportunities. Necessary groundwork for this has already been carried out. Recent advance in the field of biotechnology has opened up wide areas of development and employment for a state like Kerala. It has rich deposits of rare metals like Titanium, Thorium, etc. Schemes to use them for producing high value added products are being prepared which in future will open up a number of opportunities to the educated sections.

This shows that the path of development envisaged by LDF in Kerala offer opportunities of growth not only to forward sections of the society, as is normally done by promoters of globalization, but to the deprived sections as well. This trajectory of growth will ensure all round development of the country. Also it will prevent confrontation and conflict between various sections of society usually sponsored by the ruling classes on the basis of religion, caste, ethnicity, language, etc.

Energizes the Leftists and Communists all over the World

By V. S. Achuthanandan

Chief Minister, Kerala

Published in GANASHAKTI, 21st June, 2008

The left democratic Government in West Bengal is completing 31 years by 21st June. This is an event that energizes the Leftists and Communists all over the world. It was in Kerala that for the first time in history, a Communist party was brought into power through a general election. This was of course an event that generated a new zest among the progressive movements sending a shock to the colonial forces at the same time. Within two years after the Government was sworn in, the furore that accompanied the tabling of the Land reforms Bill and the Education Bill, led to the so-called “liberation struggle” that eventually resulted in the infamous decision of the Central government to dismiss the Communist government. The Central government behaved as if the communists will never emerge in anywhere in India in near future. The single party rule of Congress was at its peak then. While the Communists lost the election that followed, they managed interestingly to increase the percentage of votes they polled. Again in 1967, Governments emerged in Kerala and West Bengal under the leadership of Communist Parties.

In 1977, after the dark era of emergency, a Left Front Government was again brought into power in West Bengal under the leadership of Com. Jyothi Basu. The Congress Government led by Sidharth Sankar Ray that had been in power since 1972 had unleashed a semi fascist regime in Bengal. Starvation and starvation death and similar hardships were the facets of Sidhartha Sankar Ray Government. It was in fact an announcement that the CPI(M) and the left parties will never be allowed to rise again. Also, regime in Bengal during the first half of the seventies was a dress rehearsal of the emergency period.

Then the very first instance after the emergency was properly used by the people of West Bengal to teach Congress a lesson by giving them a hard blow ensuring minimum probability for congress to resume power. The CPI(M) gained a clear parliamentary majority in 1977. The 1980 elections for the Lok Sabha and those at the state level in 1982 have further confirmed CPI(M)’s secure electoral base in West Bengal. The West Bengal Government have improved its status further and is going on. Apart from Kerala and West Bengal, the CPI(M) Government in Tripura has been in power for nearly three decades. It is the alternate policies that these Governments follow in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura that makes them different from the Congress and BJP lead Governments that follow anti-people policies.

It can be observed that the political situation prevailing in Kerala is that there has not been an instance of the Left Government coming into power in successive elections as can be seen in Bengal and Tripura. Here the Left and Right Front Governments come into power alternately. This is the major hurdle that prevents the continuation of the pro people endeavours and comprehensive developmental activities based on alternate policies. In the developmental front, the Left Democratic Government has accomplished in being exemplary to the whole nation. Still it has not been possible to ensure a sustainable fifty percent vote for the Left. We in Kerala are moving ahead with a clear intention to achieve a sustainable Left regime as has been achieved by the West Bengal and Tripura Governments long back.

The existing Government in Kerala has crossed 25 months in power. From the beginning itself the LDF Government has made it clear that the State cannot go ahead without increasing the production in agricultural and industrial sectors. The most essential elements for the sustainable development of the State are the revitalisation of sick industries, starting new industries, solving agricultural crisis and increasing production. It is a matter of pride that we could start at basically in the aforesaid matters.

The Government are giving utmost emphasis on resolving food crisis. Here, it is right mentioning that the Government of West Bengal has helped Kerala by providing rice at a reduced price. Encouraging paddy cultivation by conserving at least the remaining paddy fields is our aim. Approval of the bill preventing reclamation of paddy fields and wetlands is as part of it. A comprehensive programme is in the pipeline to enhance production of food grains and other food materials.

When the Left Democratic Government came into power, the procurement of paddy was nominal. And the rate was only Rs.7 per kg. The LDF government enhanced the rate up to Rs.10 by this year and thus the procurement has been vitalised. As a result, a 30 per cent increase in production at Kuttanad and Palakkad could be achieved.

It is worth mentioning that the various steps taken by the government from its very inception could almost wipe out the suicide tendency of farmers. Three districts of Kerala out of the 36 in the country included in Central Government’s list where severe farmer suicides were reported, have now been exempted from the list. The remaining 33 districts still witness farmer suicide that illustrates the deference between government of Kerala and the rest in India.
Now the Government is striving to hold on the price hike by strengthening public distribution system through Supplyco and Consumerfed. Rice shops have been started with moderate rate. The State Government grants subsidy without any reservation in order to intervene the market.
The Central Government is persecuting the State by cutting down 87 per cent of the APL rice share of Kerala. The State Government are staging strong pressure against this and are taking all measures possible to avoid scarcity of rice.
Phenomenal task has been going on to recover government land from encroachers. In Munnar alone, it recovered twelve thousand acres of land and demolished about hundred unauthorised huge buildings and resorts. In the State as a whole, more than 15,000 acres of land has been recovered.

The legendary event of evacuation of encroachments is an unprecedented one in the history of Kerala. The recovered and other surplus land will be distributed to the landless. Each family should have land, home, electricity and drinking water- is the policy of the Government. EMS Total Housing Scheme has been started for all homeless in the State. Within the next three years, Kerala will become a total housing State. One-acre land for each 1717 adivasi families has been distributed in Aralam farm. Medical Treatment for tribals becomes free of cost.

The Right Front ridiculed the Left Front as anti-developmental during the election time. There existed a circumstance to call us as anti-developmental. The hot protest and agitations against unscrupulous exploitation of land, water and nature ware viewed as anti-developmental. Allegations raised against the Smart City project were important among them. The opposition demanded that the Government might go ahead only without handing over the Infopark, ensuring fair price for the land and rejecting the condition that there should not be any other IT park in Ernakulam. Those statements holding the vast interest of the State, were portrayed as anti-developmental. Then the Smart City became the central slogan of the assembly election.
Now, the Smart City is going to be a reality. Relentless attempt to materialise the project protecting the noble intentions of the State has been undertaken. Thus great modifications in favour of the State could be made in the stands of TECOM. A quantum jump in the field of IT sector could be achieved within the past one and a half year. For establishing Techno City, 507 acres of land is acquiring in Thiruvananthapuram. Technopark sees a development where another 100 acres of land is being acquired. Steps have been taken to establish IT parks at various districts. Many IT companies have already started new ventures in Technopark and Infopark. The target is the creation of two lakh job opportunities in the IT sector. However, the present position reveals that the employment opportunities will be many fold. 40,000 more job opportunities will be generated within next three years at Infopark, the very institution that was decided to handover free of cost by the previous government. Projects are being implemented to make the State totally computer literate. The plan, Akshaya Kendras in every village is advancing.

All welfare pensions have been hiked upto Rs.200 at a stretch and the arrears are disbursed. Hundreds of thousands of labourers have been brought under Welfare Funds including about two lakh small scale plantation workers.

The Shops and Establishments Labourer Welfare Fund Law gives solace to one million families in the unorganised sector. This law ensures job security, pension, family pension, leave, delivery leave et. al. Likewise a law which fixes pension and welfare fund for tens of thousands of dairy farmers has also been implemented.

Preliminary works have already started for metro rail in Kochi. Primary steps for suburban train services in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode have been taken. The waterway development project between the tail ends of Kerala has been triggered off. Kollam – Kottappuram waterway, a part of the National Waterway – 3 has been commissioned and the work for Kottappuram-Neeleswaram waterway is going on. Works for Kollam- Kovalam water way project has also launched. The LNG terminal at Kochi, which was in seesaw, has been got out from all obstacles owing to the relentless effort of the state government.

The State Government could reciprocate strongly against the negligence of the Centre and could fetch a large number of projects, which were entitled to us. Progress could be achieved in bringing issues of Kerala to the notice of the Centre better than earlier. Strong protest has been registered against the formation of Salem Railway Division by dividing Palakkad Division. Thus the Railway Ministry was forced to enlarge the boundary of the Palakkad division from their earlier decision.

This protest opens up a way for getting a coach factory. Since the railway reached Kerala one and half century ago, no important employment generating institution has been launched here. A coach factory assigned for Kerala a quarter century back had been shifted to Kapurthala in Punjab in the eleventh hour. Now, when we extended great pressure in the case of Salem Division issue, Central Government have agreed to set up a coach factory in Kerala to pacify us. It has already been decided that a modern railway coach factory to be set up with an investment of around four thousand crore rupees at Kanchikkode in Palakkad. For the past fifty years, no such huge Central investment has come in Kerala in the public sector. State Government have initiated primary steps for acquiring land needed for the coach factory.

Rejuvenation and enthusiasm regained in Industries sector. The government could reopen almost all the closed industries. Lock out was common in the past when an industry exhausted with loss. Now the number of profiteering public sector industry is raised to twenty seven from the mere twelve. Many new industries have been started.

New projects came in tourism sector. Kerala becomes one of the most important tourism destinations of the world. Endeavour for generating additional 500 mega watt power within three years started. Special attention has been given to utilise non-traditional energy sources and wind energy project commissioned at Idukki.

The corruption free and prosperous Kerala that is rushing towards a comprehensive development -the LDF governance of 24 months could make a giant leap in the journey towards this. The background is set for a comprehensive development. The Government could dispel disappointment from all walks of life and could rejuvenate it. Now onwards it is the time of progress.