Amend SEZ Act, CPI urges Centre

HYDERABAD: The Communist Party of India has demanded that the Centre amend the Special Economic Zones Act to remove the provisions declaring SEZ as a “foreign territory.”
It said all the laws of the land, including trade union rights, should be made applicable in the SEZs and the ‘unreasonable tax exemptions’ given to them should be withdrawn. The government should not acquire land for SEZs and it should, instead, ask the promoters to buy their own land from the market.
The party said the government should provide a level playing field to all industries as giving concessions only to those in SEZs would be detrimental to industries elsewhere. This would ultimately lead to their shifting or closure.
The 20th national congress of the CPI, in a resolution, expressed concern over the “reckless” manner in which the Centre was granting permission for SEZs.
Electoral performance
In the organisational report presented to the congress, the party expressed concern over its poor electoral performance, particularly in the Hindi belt. It had no representation in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and lost significant ground in Bihar.
While an efficient and strong party organisation was important for taking a political line, the performance of the branches, the primary units that had direct links with the masses, was not up to the expected levels. On the fund mobilisation, the report expressed concern that the party’s elected representatives were being “used” by some people by paying money.
“We are trying to discourage this and want to ensure that collection of funds becomes the collective responsibility of the party,” CPI spokesman Shameem Faizee said, adding that the party would initiate measures to approach the masses for funds rather than allowing individuals to collect money.
In the light of the increasing number of drop-outs, the party decided to achieve 20 per cent increase in membership .
The Hindu; Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008