SILCHAR, Aug 24: The UPA Government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, is leading the country towards the path of abject surrender to the imperialist diktats, endangering the concept of self reliance and sovereignty of the country. The State on the other hand is withdrawing all its responsibilities towards the countrymen caught in the python of malnutrition, hunger, poverty, unemployment and illiteracy. The Government is extending concessions and bonanza to big business and corporate houses.
This is how the speakers at the two-day 28th general conference of the Silchar division of All India Insurance Employees’ Association held on Sunday and Monday here lambasted both the Centre and the State Governments. The budget speech of Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, has made it clear for India to shift to an ‘enabling state from an interventionist state’ it means the Government has nothing to do with 350 million people of below poverty line, 5,000 children who die every year due to various diseases and 70 per cent people earning less than Rs 20 each day.
It is because of this attitude and approach that the Government is silent spectator to unprecedented price rise, falling agricultural products and increasing unemployment. Rather, it has added to the woes and sufferings of people by hiking prices of petroleum products, withdrawing subsidies and reducing budgetary allocations from the social purposive schemes. The Government is desperate to sell stakes of public sector undertakings to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore during 2010-11. Weakening of the representation of working class in Parliament has allowed the Government to bulldoze its anti-people policies.
The conference has called for mobilization of more and more people in the process in the days to come to thwart the imperialist designs of the UPA Government to safeguard the country and its people. It is time to renew the pledge to protect the country’s independence, sovereignty and to make the fight against imperialism stronger. The conference resolves to backup the nationwide strike of September 7 with the sole objective of solidifying the people’s movement. Those who addressed the conference included Kalimanagal Chakraborty, Jayanta Mukherjee, Pradeep Gargari, Abhijit Roy Choudhury and Atin Deb Choudhury. (The Sentinel)