CPI (M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri on Saturday slammed the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre for making a reversal on its pre-lok Sabha poll promises and said that the left parties will seek the support of the Congress in opposing the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill in the Upper House next week.
The CPI (M) leader who was in Guwahti on Saturday also slammed the Central Government for its attitude towards the North-East, particularly over the Centre's decision to go ahead with the construction of mega dam for the lower Subansiri Hydro Power Project at Gerukamukh along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.“Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA Government at the Centre has been setting a dangerous trend by ignoring the laid down procedures of the House. The Government is only six months in power and they have started abandoning the tradition of referring the new legislations to the Parliamentary Standing Committees-thereby bypassing the system of parliamentary scrutiny of the legislations," he said.
The senior CPI (M) leader referred to the NDA Government's recent effort to bypass the laid down procedures to pass the Insurance Amendment Bill hurriedly and said that the left parties have already united to oppose the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill in the Rajya Sabha."We need the support of the Congress in opposing the Bill in RajyaSabha. The left parties have already united over the Bill and if the Congress support us, I think we can stop the Coal Mines Bill," he said.
Yechury also said that the CPI(M) had been opposing private mining for long now and added that even several western countries are now re-nationalising the public services. "We have been demanding that the mining of coal should be done by the Coal India only. We have observed that the new Government is trying to pass all the Bills that serve the interest of big companies and the corporate," he said.
On the NDA Government's attitude towards Northeastern States, Yechury said that some efforts must be made to integrate the region with other parts of the country. "However, the new NDA Government had reversed on all its pre-lok Sbha poll promises. The Government had decided to halt the North-East Industries and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP). They have decided to stop the food ration to the tea workers. This is not fair," he said."The BJP before the lok Sabh polls took an anti-big dam stand. But now they have reversed and is planning to go ahead with the construction of the 2,000 MW lower Subansiri Power Project," he pointed out while making it clear that the CPI (M) had always wanted a detailed assessment on the impact of the dam and the project on Assam, which is a downstream State.
"The food ration is a part of the wage package of the tea labourers in Assam. Different States have over time historically evolved some packages. In Assam and the Northeast, the package includes the food ration. There is no reason that this should be stopped," he said while adding that the Government at the Centre is in fact, intervening not to solve the problem of the poor but for the benefit of the tea garden owners.