Even
as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress-led United Democratic Front were
framing chargesheets after chargesheets against the CPM-led governments in West
Bengal and Kerala respectively, and inflicting defeats after defeats on the
Left party (in Parliament elections last year and in local body polls this year
in both states), the CPM-led All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA)
had dared to frame a ‘chargesheet’ against the DMK government in Tamil Nadu for
its alleged ‘anti-women’ and ‘anti-dalit’ ‘policies’.
At
a meeting organized by the AIDWA to mark the International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women in Chennai, its State General Secretary
U.Vasuki is reported to have said that a chargesheet had been prepared against
the government for ‘violation of various sections of the Constitution and also
several cases of harassment against women’ (The New Indian Express, Nov.26). If
any provision of the Constitution is violated by the Government, they need not
go to the streets but straightaway move the Supreme Court and get redressal is
a different matter.
But
the charges they could utmost level are only stray cases involving some
individuals said to have been attacked during protest demonstrations, which
they said ‘should be punished under IPC section 324/325/326 and 307, that
includes life term imprisonment and a fine.’ Besides two such stray incidents
(even if they were true) they had not specified any general charge to substantiate
their allegation of ‘anti-women policy’ of the DMK government.
Many
a times the CPM leaders in Tamil Nadu forget that their party is running
governments in three states and people would naturally compare the state of
affairs and performance of their governments in those states with those in
Tamil Nadu. So when the AIDWA leader ‘highlighted the price rise of essential
commodities during the DMK regime’ and said ‘the government should resign for
failing to curb the trend’, she must have compared the prices of essential
commodities in the state with those obtaining in West Bengal, Kerala and
Tripura’ and show that the prices were less in those states. She must also say
whether the steps taken by the DMK government to protect the poor and
middleclass sections from the impact of price rise by distributing 20 kg rice
per month at Re.One per kg. to all cardholders, supply of essential commodities
like pulses, edible oils, wheat, atta etc., at cheaper prices under the PDS,
were insufficient compared to the steps taken by CPM led government in those
states.
Like
the DMK government in Tamil Nadu have the CPM-governments in these three
states,
v
Provided
33.33 percent reservation for women in local bodies for the first time in the
country
v
Provided
30 percent reservation for women in government jobs and 50 percent for primary
school teacher jobs
v
Took
the lead in the country in organizing 73.6 lakh members in 4.74 lakh women self
help groups thus providing economic empowerment for women
v
Provided
financial assistance for women under the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammayar Memorial
Marriage Assistance scheme to women belonging to poor families to the tune of
Rs.832.10 crore for 4,39,539 poor women so far
v
Increased
the assistance amount from Rs.10,000 to Rs.15,000 to 20,000 and to Rs.25,000
from the current financial year and providing Rs.300 crore to benefit 1,29,000
families . Altogether 4,67,479 women were given marriage assistance to the tune
of Rs.862.06 crore so far under five different schemes including daughters of
poor widows, women without any support, widows for remarriage and for
inter-caste marriages besides for all women of poor families
v
Under
Muthulakshmi Reddy Memorial Maternity Assistance scheme, 10 lakh women were
paid financial assistance to the tune of Rs.6,000 each over the last four years
and provided Rs.350 crore for the current financial year
v
To
provide relief for women in domestic chore, distributed free gas stoves and LPG
connections to 17 lakh families at a cost of Rs.3810 crore so far and provided
Rs.1280 crore to benefit additional 6 lakh families in the current financial
year
v
Provided
nutritious meal to 19 lakh children and five lakh pregnant women and lactating
mothers through 63,484 children centres and provided five eggs per week to 69
lakh children and students having nutritious food under Nutritious Meal
Programme
v
Allocated
Rs.124 crore for the current year for Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of
Women for providing various supportive measures to the women self help groups
v
Paid
monthly pension of Rs.500 each to nine lakh old persons, mostly women, six lakh
widow destitutes, one lakh destitute women and for unmarried women of over 50
years of age
v
For
the first time in India
Besides
these women-specific assistance schemes, issue of rice at one rupee per kg and
provisions at cheaper prices to all families, conversion of 21 lakh huts in the
state into concrete houses, distribution of 1.60 crore free colour TV sets,
free land for 1.78 lakh landless farmers and farm labourers, employment
opportunities for over 6 lakh educated unemployed and monthly assistance to
educated unemployed persons, issue of about 8 lakh free house-site pattas in
women’s names etc., have also benefited women.
Women
in Tamil Nadu, in general, are more relieved and happier, independent and
enlightened and politically and economically emancipated than their
counterparts in any other state in the country including those ruled by the CPM
and Left parties, thanks to the consistent and progressive steps taken by the
DMK governments so far. It is only in Tamil Nadu, under the DMK rule, that a
legislation for providing equal property rights for women was enacted.
If
the CPM-led women’s outfit cannot claim credit for the state governments led by
their party in three states, for implementing any of the above mentioned
schemes for the protection, welfare and development of women, what moral right
do they have to frame a chargesheet against the DMK government on flimsy and
stray cases and demand its resignation, except possibly to appease the ego of
their present patron Jayalalitha in anticipation of some more crumbs (seats) in
the Assembly elections?
The
AIDWA and the CPM have already lost their longtime fraternal forces like Left
intellectuals, progressive writers and artists, civil liberty organizations and
feminist groups following the Nandigram and Singur black chapters.
In
these circumstances people in general and women in particular, will only laugh
away and spurn with contempt the call of AIDWA in its all India conference in
October at Kanpur, to women’s movement to rally behind the Left Front
government in West Bengal!
The
CPM and AIDWA can only be counselled that during testing times, ‘Discretion is
the better part of valour’!
(05-12-10)
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