Shimla, August 18
The Himachal Pradesh State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held its meeting at the party office in Shimla on August 17-18, with Politburo member Tapan Sen participating in the deliberations. The meeting was chaired by Omkar Shad, while state secretary Sanjay Chauhan presented the political and organisational report.
Sen, while briefing the committee on the recent Central Committee meeting, alleged that the neoliberal policies of the Narendra Modi government were aggravating unemployment, inflation and economic distress among workers, farmers and the common people. He also accused the Centre of allowing corporate houses greater access to the country’s resources and pursuing free-trade agreements, including the proposed India-US trade deal, at the cost of national interests.
The committee also reviewed the outcome of recent Assembly elections in five states and discussed a range of political and organisational issues concerning Himachal Pradesh.
The CPI(M) expressed concern over the state’s worsening financial position, saying rising debt and reduced grants and assistance from the Centre were putting pressure on public services. It alleged that the state government was shifting the burden onto people through taxes and cesses while education, healthcare, transport, drinking water and electricity services were facing increasing difficulties.
The party claimed that more than one lakh posts were lying vacant in government departments and criticised recruitment through contractual, outsourced, part-time, casual, scheme-worker, multi-task worker, ‘mitra’ and job-trainee arrangements. It demanded regular recruitment against all vacant posts and withdrawal of increased taxes, cesses and fees and charges in universities.
The CPI(M) also opposed the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), alleging that it was promoting the privatisation, commercialisation and “saffronisation” of education. It criticised the closure and merger of government schools in the name of rationalisation and opposed the move to bring government schools under the CBSE system without adequate infrastructure and teachers.
On the power sector, the party alleged that the state government was moving towards privatisation of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board and objected to the installation of prepaid smart meters and the handing over of power substations to private entities. It also opposed any increase in electricity tariffs that would add to the burden on consumers.
The party demanded that the government initiate, at the earliest, a policy for providing at least five bighas of land to poor families and farmers and regularising eligible encroachments in accordance with Supreme Court directions. It also called for protection of the rights of tribal and traditional forest dwellers under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and opposed the auction of crops grown on land under farmers’ possession by the Forest Department.
On the agriculture sector, the CPI(M) opposed what it described as attempts to weaken the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS). It demanded restoration of the Centre’s budgetary support for the scheme and urged the state government to implement MIS without additional conditions. The party also called for minimum support prices for apples and other fruits, opening of procurement depots and immediate clearance of pending MIS payments to farmers.
The state committee further demanded immediate rehabilitation and adequate relief for families affected by the heavy rains and disasters of 2023 and 2025. It said several affected families were still awaiting assistance and sought relief for those impacted by this year’s rains as well.
The CPI(M) also opposed action against street vendors and hawkers by municipal bodies and the state government, terming such action a violation of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. It demanded that street vendors and tehbazari workers in Shimla be rehabilitated at their earlier locations and extended support to the ongoing agitation by the Tehbazari Union.
The party appealed to the people of Himachal Pradesh and the working population across the country to unite against what it described as anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-people neoliberal policies.
