Thiruvananthapuram, Saturday, January 01, 2011: CPM general secretary Prakash Karat today has slammed the Centre for inking the Indo-ASEAN free trade agreement without consulting the Kerala government. Inaugurating the third international congress on Kerala studies organised by the AKG Study and Research Centre here, he said that the provisions in the agreement, covering several commodities from Kerala, posed a direct threat to the state.

‘The agreement may help monopolies, but will adversely affect small commodity producers,’ he said, adding the state was becoming a victim of liberalisation. He alleged that the Centre was neglecting the rights of non-resident Keralites who were sending huge amounts to the country as foreign exchange.

‘Of the private money transfers amounting to Rs 50 billion, Rs 20 billion comes from the Gulf,’ he said. Commending the LDF government in Kerala which had taken up several welfare measures during the last four years including distribution of rice for Rs 2 per kg to 25 lakh families, he said the state had to devise strategies for value addition in agriculture.

Even the welfare measures of the LDF government were being constricted by the centre by not providing adequate resources for implementing central programmes like `Sarva Siksha Abhiyan,’ he said.
Karat suggested that the state should make effective use of bio-technology sector which had tremendous potential and improve upon the progress it had achieved in healthcare. Employment opportunities should be expanded for educated women to check gender discrimination.

Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who presided over the function, said Communist-led governments in the state from 1957 had taken up development works based on social justice. The Left governments brought poorer sections to the mainstream and reduced inequalities in society, he said.

(News Agency)