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Organ of the Central Committee, CPI(ML)

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Red Salute to Com. Madala Narayan Swamy,

Central Leader of CPI(ML)-New Democracy

(Central leader of CPI(ML)-New Democracy Com. Madala Narayan Swamypassed away on December 9, 2013 in a hospital at Guntur (Andhra Pradesh).

We are publishing here the homage paid by the Central Committee of theParty to Com. MNS. - Editor)

Nearly two months short of hundred years, veteran communistrevolutionary leader and central leader of CPI(ML)-New Democracy, Com.Madala Narayan Swamy (MNS) breathed his last on December 9, 2013 in anursing home in Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. Spanning eight decades ofactive communist work he took an active and leading role in two revolutionaryperiods, that of Great Telangana Armed Struggle and the revolutionarymovements after Naxalbari peasant armed struggle. He participated in threeparty phases of communist movement in India that of united CPI, CPMand CPI(ML). Com. MNS remained a steadfast revolutionary in thought

and action till he breathed his last, inspiring generations of communistrevolutionary activists, particularly in Andhra Pradesh. Full of the richnessof his revolutionary experience, vastness of his field of action andconsistency of his outlook and devotion to the revolutionary cause of Indianpeople, life of Com. MNS served and continues to serve as a shiningexample of all that was and is glorious in the revolutionary movement ofthe country. In his long life he remained steadfastly with the revolutionarymovement and even with his death, his thought and actions will continueto guide CPI(ML)-New Democracy and the communist revolutionarymovement of the country. Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracyis proud of his long association with the Party and indebted to his untiringguidance and revolutionary zeal in advancing the revolutionary movementand Partys influence.

Born on February 13, 1914 in a landowning family in village Mynampaduin Santhanuthala mandal of Prakasam district (earlier part of Guntur dist rict)to Shri Raghavayya and Smt. Rangamma, he was eldest of three brothersand a sister. From early student life, MNS awoke to the need not only tofree the country from colonial yoke but also from feudal oppression. Inspiredby the communist movement, which was taking root in the coastal districtswhere it went on to acquire the first large mass base in rural India, Com.

MNS was drawn to it. Aftercompleting his college study inGuntur, he went to study atBenaras Hindu University wherein those days, a communist cellwas active and educated youthwas turning to Marxism-

Leninism to guide its strivingsfor a free and democratic India.There Com. MNS matured intoa Marxist-Leninist and wasgiven membership of CPI in1941 by Z.A. Ahmed at the end

his first year of MA in Economics. He participated in the anti-colonialfreedom movement and in the intial phase of Quit India movement evenundertook railway and phone line disruption.

Returning to Ongole after completing MA in Economics, he took theresponsibility of party organization under Guntur DC of CPI. He led andparticipated in several struggles on land and on coolie rates, againstuntouchability and caste oppression in the district. Com. MNS was aparticipant in CPI acquiring the first broad mass base in rural area in Indiain coastal Andhra.

He married Ms. Sulochana, daughter of communist parents. Her mother,Bullamma, was jailed in 1946 for her participation in anti-landlord strugglein Krishna district. Her father, Kadiyala Ranga Rao, was a CPI leader inKrishna district. Ms. Sulochanas other two sisters were also married tocommunist activists.

In 1946 started the glorious chapter of Indian communist movement,Great Telangana Armed Struggle. Com. MNS organized solidarity withTelangana armed struggle and led many anti- landlord movements in Ongole

(then part of Guntur district) along with Com. Kola Venkayya. When NehruGovt. banned the Communist Party of India, Com. MNS went undergroundin 1948. Com. MNS participated as a delegate in the 2ndParty Congress inKolkata in 1948. During Telangana armed struggle, in 1950, his brother M.Kotayya was killed by police along with another comrade, Madala Narsayya.

Com. MNS had always been a consistent revolutionary communist. Hewas a strong critic of withdrawal of Telangana armed struggle by CPI

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leadership. When struggle inside the CPI against Dange revisionism, againstsupport to Nehru led so-called progressive section of the ruling Congressand against support to Indian Govt. in India-China war of 1962 got intensified,Com. MNS was with the left section of CPI. He was jailed in 1962 alongwith other leaders who later formed CPM. Com. MNS also joined CPMwhen it was formed in 1964. In 1952 he was elected an MLA and in 1962 anMP from Ongole constituency. Before completing his term, he resigned

from Lok Sabha in support of the demand for Steel Plant at Vishakhapatnam.

Spring Thunder over India, the Naxalbari peasant uprising, exposed theneo-revisionist character of CPM leadership. Armed struggles in Debra-Gopiballavpur, Mushaheri, Lakhimpur Kheri and Shrikakulam burst forth tochallenge the semicolonial, semifeudal order. Naxalbari became a milestonein the history of communist movement as it drew a dividing line betweenrevolutionary Marxism and revisionism of different hues. Struggle insideCPM in Andhra Pradesh also got intensified with majority of leaders andcadres supporting Naxalbari peasant armed struggle. In Palakolu plenumin 1968, Com. MNS stood with Coms. DV Rao, CP Reddy, T Nagi Reddyand Kola Venkayya in favour of revolutionary line and against neo-revisionist

line of CPM leadership. In 1969, he was arrested from Chennai (then Madras)along with other leaders of APRCC, Com. DV, Com. TN and others. Duringthis period in jail, split occurred in APRCC between jail leadership andoutside PC members led by Com. CP Reddy. The policies to be adopted todevelop struggle of tribals in Godavari Valley became the main politicalissue of this split. Com. MNS saw a ray of hope in Godavari Valley struggleand along with Com. Somachari dissociated with other leaders in Jail andsided with and joined the State Committee led by Com. CP. After his releasefrom jail, he was again elected as a member of PC in 1973 AP stateconference.

Com. MNS was jailed during Emergency. After his release he took upwork on legal front and became President of APRCS when it was formed in

1978. Com. MNS was re-elected to the PC in 1980 state conference andparticipated in October 1980 Special Congress of CPI(ML).

In 1992, he was elected to the Central Committee of CPI(ML)-NewDemocracy in the All India Party Congress and was re-elected as CCM in1996 in All India Party Congress. He had also presided over the All IndiaPlenum of the Party in 1989 and again in 1997. As his health started goingdown, he insisted on being relieved as a CCM in All India Party Congress

held in 2004. While accepting his wish, 2004 Party Congress, through aspecial resolution, made him a permanent invitee to the Central Committee.The same arrangement was continued in recently held All India PartyCongress 2013. Till his end, Com. MNS remained part of the Centralleadership and always made it a point to attend CC meetings and despitehis deteriorating health, made immense contribution to CC work.

Work among peasants was his special area of work and he led peasantstruggles throughout his life. He remained President of AP Rytu CoolieSangham till it joined with peasant organizations of other states to form AllIndia Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS). Com. MNS was elected as founderPresident of AIKMS in its founding conference in Rajmundry in 2000. Earlier,in 1995 prior to formation of AIKMS, some peasant organizations set up aCoordination Committee, AICCPO. Com. MNS was chosen as its All IndiaConvenor.

Com. MNS also took keen interest in promoting friendship between peopleof China and India when Indian ruling classes were whipping up anti-Chinapropaganda. Com. MNS took a leading role in the formation of India ChinaFriendship Association (ICFA) and served as its General Secretary.

Com. MNS remained a strong champion of revolutionary mass line andof combination of different types of struggles to achieve liberation of thepeople of the country from the yoke of imperialist exploitation and feudaloppression. He had a strong conviction that India continues to be asemicolonial semifeudal country and protracted peoples war is the onlystrategy for the new democratic revolution in the country. He always foughtdeterminedly against deviations from programmatic and strategic orientationof the Party and the communist revolutionary movement. He waged adetermined and consistent struggle against revisionism, right and leftdeviations. He had always refused to take freedom fighters pension as hebelieved that India had not achieved freedom.

Com. MNS was a firm upholder of communist lifestyle, ideals andmethods of work. He always adhered to the principles of simple life andhard work. He not only fought for these ideals inside the Party, but translatedthese ideals into his own life. Com. MNS was a man of action. He appliedand devoted himself completely to the tasks assigned by the Party.

Com. MNS represented the finest traditions of the communist movementof India. His sense of discipline and respect for the Party was immense

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and he paid a lot of respect to Party leaders much junior to him in Party lifeor experience in revolutionary movement. His revolutionary honesty wasexemplary. He never hesitated to correct himself whenever he realizedpositions taken by him were not correct.

With his death, Party has lost not only a firm pillar but also an affectionateguide. His death places before us the task to devote ourselves with

redoubled commitment and energy to develop the revolutionary strugglesand contribute to the victory of New Democratic Revolution in the country.We will convert the grief over his death into a strength to realize the goalsfor which he strived throughout his life. Central Committee offers itscondolences to the wife, son, daughter and other members of Com. MNSsfamily.

Red Salute to Central Leader of the Party, Com. Madala Narayan Swamy!

Long Live revolutionary heritage of Com. MNS!

Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought Zindabad!

Path of Protracted Peoples War for New Democratic Revolution Zindabad!

CPI(ML)-New Democracy Zindabad!

December 9th, 2013 Central Committee,

CPI(ML)-New Democracy

Muzaffarnagar

Violence: Report

Released by Fact

Finding Team(A team consisting of Prof. Mohan Rao, Dr. Ish Mishra, Ms.

Pragya Singh and Dr. Viaks Bajpai had visited the areas ofMuzaffarnagar affected by communal violence in September 2013and some of camps where Muslims fleeing from the attacks hadtaken shelter. The team held a press conference where they releasedthe report. We are here publishing the press release issued by theteam members while releasing their report.- Editor)

A team of academics and a journalist carried out an inquiry into the

communal violence that shook Muzaffarnagar district in UP this pastSeptember. The report is based on the findings of the team during its visitto Muzaffarnagar district on the 9 thand the 10thof November and again onthe 27thNovember. The members of the team were Dr. Mohan Rao, Professor,Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU; Dr. Ish Misra,Professor, Department of Political Science, Hindu College, Delhi University;Ms. Pragya Singh, Journalist, Outlook and Dr. Vikas Bajpai, Ph.D. Scholar,Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU. The team also drewupon the assistance of Dr. Subhash Tyagi, Professor of Geography, MachraCollege, Meerut, and Praveen Raj Tyagi, Principal Greenland Public School,Duhai, Ghaziabad, in the collection of some data.

OBJECTIVES OF OUR ENQUIRY1. To investigate the role of state agencies in either preventing or

containing violence, in taking appropriate punitive actions against the guiltyand also to investigate some incidents of communal violence.

2. To investigate the role of the government in providing relief andrehabilitating the displaced and the progress made in displaced peoplegoing back to their villages and homes.

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3. To understand the economic, social and political reasons that ledto the recent spate of communal violence in this area of Western UttarPradesh.

SALIENT FINDINGS

Role of the agencies of the State

The fact that India is Constitutionally mandated as a SecularStatemakes it obligatory on the agencies of the State to uphold secular values.However, the communal incidents in Muzaffarnagar, its aftermath and thecontinuing tragedy of the riot affected persons have been the undoing ofthe Indian State in this regard. Regrettably, this has been the outcome ofdeliberate and calculated decisions at different levels as is evident fromthe findings:

The affidavits riot victims were made to sign for availing monetarycompensation

The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government has made the riot affected Muslimfamilies in relief camps sign affidavits that enforced following conditionson the signatories in order to avail of financial relief:

That myself and members of my family have come leaving ourvillage and home being terrorized due to violent incidents in villageand we will not now return to our original village and home under anycircumstances.

That the lumpsum financial help being given for my family by thegovernment will only be used by me to rehabilitate my family. By this moneyI will live with my family voluntarily arranging for residence at appropriateplace elsewhere.

That in the condition of receiving lumpsum financial help amount,

myself or members of my family will not demand compensation relating toany damage to any immovable property in my village or elsewhere.

The State thus sought to impose a demographic change in the riotaffected villages through a legal instrument. The monetary relief beingdisbursed was not to rebuild the damaged property or lost means oflivelihood.This has served to reinforce the terror of communal violence inthe minds of affected families besides driving a schism in the composite

culture of the area which mars the possibilities of gradual healing.Muslimsare now being ghettoized in towns and localities dominated by them.

These aspects were pointed out by the team members to the districtadministration, The officials however denied that the government waspreventing people from going back to the villages and told of an orderstating that those who wanted to return to their villages were free to do so.

But a copy of the said order could not be provided by the administration.

Complicity and inaction of the police in incidents of v iolence

The shallow credibility of the law and order machinery in Muzaffarnagaris best reflected in the statement of senior police officials that Both theJats and the Muslims are complaining against us, so the police must havedone something good. Police itself is at pains to enumerate pro-activeand positive actions taken by them against the wrong doers. Establishingcredibility in the eyes of minorities becomes all the more difficult when in aregion with around 37 percent Muslim population, as per a senior policeofficial of the district, the representation of Muslims in police force is lessthan 3 percent. The officer however maintained that This did not matter for

a policeman is a policeman and religion is not a factor in the discharge ofhis duties.

The residents at the camps however said that they did not want to goback to their villages as their tormentors were still roaming free and thatthe government had done little that would have them repose their faith inthe law and order machinery. The frequent transfers of the senior policeofficials in the district have not helped matters either. In 2013 the SSP ofthe district has been changed five times.

In Qutba village, from where the single largest number of Muslim killingshave been reported (8 Muslims were killed) a picket of PAC (provincialarmed police) was posted in the village at the time of riots. These policemen

were having tea in the Pradhans house when mobs started attacking Muslimhouseholds. The three Muslim men who rushed to seek their help weresaid to have been locked up by these policemen in the Pradhans house.

The second incident of killings that took place with police in the vicinitywas at the Mohammedpur Raisingh village on October 30. Three Muslimyouth from the neighboring Hussainpur village were abducted from the fieldsand killed by the Jats even as a picket of the state police was posted in

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the village. The Hussainpur villagers, on learning of the abduction of youth,repeatedly rang the SHO of BhauraKalan police station, but their calls wentunanswered. It was informed that the SHO had switched off his phone.

The Pradhan of Hussainpur village later said that despite their besteffortsmany of those accused by name in the killings have still not beenarrested and are roaming free in MohammedpurRaisingh. He further alleged

that the police hasdeclared rates (ofbribe) to weaken the cases againstthe accused or even to let them go scot free.

It appears from the sequence and the circumstances of the incidents ofviolence in Muzaffarnagar that had the police and the district administrationacted with alacrity and a fair sense of justice in the immediate aftermath ofthe incidence of alleged eve teasing and related murders in Kawal village,the subsequent turn of events could have been entirely avoided.

Outsourcing of relief to the Muslim religious organizations by the

State

It would have been best if the State machinery was seen by the riotaffected Muslims as a dependable, sincere and caring source of succorand a guarantor of their safety. The State instead chose to outsource reliefmeasures to Muslim communal organizations, principally the Jamiat-Ulemae Hind of Deoband though some other NGOs were also involved.

On being quizzed why no state agency has a visible presence at therelief camps, the district administration told us that this was in accordancewith the policy of the state government. The Shiv Pal Singh Yadav committeeset up by the state government post riots had recommended that all reliefbe provided through community organizations.

This reflects redoubtable wisdom.Communal community organizationscannot be expected to be credible foot soldiers for Secular ideals. Theimpact of this was evident in the camps. Apart from apprehensions regarding

security upon return to their villages, the people also said that they wouldprefer to live, Amidst the security of their own people.

Different reports before ours have graphically highlighted the pitiableconditions at the camps. We would only reiterate that even the least facilitieslike essential medical or civic amenities such as drinking water or functioningtoilets have not been provided to the people in the camps despite visits bythe mightiest VIPs inthe country.

Jamiat dominated committees appeared to tightly control what the peoplesaid of the arrangements at the camps. At the Bassi Kalan camp when theresidents complained against the government, members of the managingcommittee tried to stop them. Likewise at camp no 1 at Shahpur a localMaulvi expressed his displeasure when the residents complained of theconditions.We were told by families in the relief camps that up to Rs 20,000had been taken from them by functionaries of the Jamiat for constructing

alternative accommodation.

A close confidant of ours asked the leader of the Jamiat as to why theywere not opposing the affidavits that displaced Muslim families were beingmade to sign. The reply was, there is nothing to worry about in this and allof them will finally be allowed to return to their villages.Jamiat furtherclaimed credit for getting a handsome relief package for the displacedfamilies. Silence of the Jamiat over the claims of the Samajwadi Partyleadership that the Muslims remaining in the camps were agents of theCongress and the BJP is equally deafening.

Any astute observer can note that the Samajwadi Party government ofUP will now bank on the certifications of the mullahs to clean up itsabominable record of a number of communal riots / disturbances in thestate during its rule.

In our last visit local administration was categorical in stating that thereare no refugees in any relief camp and government aid has been stopped.Further insult to injury has been added by the statement of t he UP HomeSecretary that people do not die of cold. This only undermines the secularcredentials of the state.

The communal campaign and the Muzaffarnagar violence

The communal violence in Muzaffarnagar ought to be seen in the context

of such violence in different parts of the country in 2013 beginning fromKishthwar (J & K), Masoori and Meerut in UP, Indore and Harda in MP,Bettiah and Nawada in Bihar and Rangpur in Cachar district of Assam. UPhas witnessed a sustained campaign at communalization may it be thechaurasi kos parikrama or innovations like love jihad, ever since AmitShah took over the reins of BJP in the state. This is pathognomic of thecommunal forces represented by the Sangh Parivar. The approaching LokSabha elections in 2014 provide the leitmotif of this campaign.

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However, equally abominable is the complicity of supposedly secularforces in facilitating this communal campaign. The track record of theAkhilesh Yadav government in dealing with communal forces, its attitudetowards common Muslims and history of hob-knobbing with Muslimcommunal forces is a case in the point.

The atmosphere in Muzaffarnagar had been vitiated over several months

through sustained communal mobilization.Muslims have been the worstsufferers of communal orgy that swept Muzaffarnagar.Senior Superintendentof Police informed that a total of 52 people died in Muzaffarnagar, of which37 were Muslims and 15 were Hindus (in all likelihood these were all Jats).Unofficial sources put the number of displaced Muslims at 100,000 whileby the time of our visit government acknowledged that 50,955 displacedpersons had been accommodated in 11 relief camps. 540 FIRs have beenregistered in riot-related incidents, against approximately 6000 people.

There is an important distinction in the manner of deaths of Muslimsand Jats. Almost all the Jats who were killed were those who had participatedin the Mahapanchayat at NanglaMandaur village on September 7th. Therewere accounts of the Jats, in tractor trollies from different villages that

went to take part in the Mahapanchayat, raising provocative slogans asthey passed by Muslim habitations. Provocations like dogs being dressedin burqa and beaten with slippers were on display along with slogans like Musalmano ke do sthan Pakistan ya kabristan. Even theJats we talkedto admitted that These youth have been taken in by the charisma of Modiand they raised slogans in his support on way to the mahapanchayat.

Jats who died were killed in reaction to this deliberate provocation.Most of these deaths took place on the evening of September 7th in attackson Jat trollies as they returned from the Mahapanchayat or were of thoseJats who got injured in these attacks and died later. The only incident of aplanned attack on Jats took place at Pur Baliyan on September 7th inwhich some Mulle Jats wanted to attack the trolley of Jats from Sohram

village out of rivalry born out of a previous incident. However, in the meleeof the violence the Jats in the trolley of Kakda village got killed. But noneof the Jats from Pur Baliyan village itself were attacked by Muslims.

The attacks on and deaths of Muslims have taken place as part of asustained campaign in different villages. The victims were all innocentmostly poor Muslims who had no role in attacks on Jats. The handwork ofthe larger communal design and organization was evident in the well-

rehearsed and similar arguments which the Jats from different villagesforwarded to rationalize the killings and the displacement of the Muslims.A Jat teacher in Kakda village described the communal violence in theregion as Yeh hai Amit Shah ka jadoo. The Qutba village had beenwitness to a panchayat that was attended by the BJP president MrRajnathSingh about six months earlier. This points to the forces that have been atwork in the area.

The Jats in villages like Kakda and Mohammedpur Raisingh put forthludicrous arguments like, The Muslims were willing to come back to theirvillages, but decided to stick to the relief camps ever since the governmentannounced the 5 lakh relief package and that they Themselves destroyedtheir property to claim inflated relief. Common communal myths propagatedby the Hindutva forces against Muslims They have large families and donot believe in family planning; They are anti-national and that, They willcreate a Kashmir like situation here as well were liberally put forth.

Character of Communal Violence ?

There were some reports that lower caste Hindus also participated inattacks on Muslims along with the Jats os specific khaps in different villages.However, the Muslims whom we interviewed in the relief camps felt thatwherever the lower caste Hindus acted against them it was under thepressure of the Jats as the lower caste Hindus had little option but tofollow the diktat of the Jats.Distinct caste hierarchies were observed in thevillages, and also in terms of the involvement of different castes in thedecision making processes. For example in the 35 biradari panchayat thatwas convened in Mohammadpur Raisingh on the November 10,representatives of all the upper castes were invited but none from the lowercastes.

It is however noteworthy that no communal violence has been reportedfrom any of the Muslim dominated villages. Simultaneously, there were Jatdominated villages where the Jats took up the responsibility of protectingtheir Muslim brethren. Some of these villages wereKheda Gani, GarhiNovabad, Garhi Jaitpur and Kurawa.

THE WAY FORWARD

Despite the constitutional and formal averments of the secular characterof the Indian state, the de facto reality remains that the state machineryhas acted in a highly communal manner which undermines Indias secular

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pronouncements. Even as the communal poison being spread by theHindutva forces need be countered with full force, t he role played by theSamajwadi Party government in UP in connivance with the Muslimcommunal forces and the latest act of forcibly evicting the riot displacedfamilies from relief camps brings into question the advisability of formingalliances with such parties to counter communalism. The stark reality isthat despite the fact that Muslims constitute a much larger share of UPs

population as compared to Yadavs, the propensity of filling administrativestructure with a caste group is much stronger while the Muslims can atbest expect their lives to be spared in the name of secularism. Indiassecularism ostensibly sways between Hindu Rule of the secular partiesof the ruling classes and the Hindu Rashtra of the saffron brigade.

Fighting communalism is not merely an electoral issue. Communal forcescan be defeated only by ground struggles built by an alliance of theminorities, the working masses, the dalits, the tribals, other oppressedcastes and progressive sections of the intelligentsia. In this regard theexample held out by the people of Hussainpur, Kheda Gani, Garhi Novabad,Garhi Jaitpur, Kurawaand other such villages is a ray of hope.

DEMANDS

The following demands acquire top most priority in our opinion underthe prevailing circumstances:

1. All the accused named in the FIRs should be arrested.

2. Decommunalize the state apparatus.

3. Restore all villagers back to their homes.

4. Scrap the affidavit which was taken against five lakh compensation amount.

WTOs Ministerial Meeting at Bali

India surrenders before

imperialist interests

Bhalachandra Shadangi

The much awaited 9th Ministerial meeting of World Trade Organization(WTO) was held from 3rd- 6thDecember 2013 at Indonesias Bali Island.In the background of the s talemate going on between the developed anddeveloping countries after the 2001 Doha round in reaching an agreementon world trade, there was an apprehension from the very beginning aboutthe success of this conference. Even just before the conference, the DirectorGeneral of WTO Roberto Azevedos statement to the media, If not thistime then never was full of apprehensions and uncertainty. IndiasCommerce minister Anand Sharma also contributed to this uncertainty bysaying, We will not compromise on countrys food security at any costand if necessary we will be forced to come out of the body.

But towards the end of the conference this cloud of uncertainty wascleared with India taking a U turn from its earlier stand and succumbing tothe pressure of America led developed countries. An agreement said to beunanimous was reached between the 159 member countries of WTO whichhas provided much-needed oxygen to a moribund World Trade Organisation.The WTO, founded in 1995, was fast fading into irrelevance with countriesforging bilateral trade pacts and powerful regional trade agreements,especially in the developed world. In the event, the first-ever multilateraltrade agreement between the member-countries could take place keepingthe agenda of the Doha Round alive. In the 18 year history of WTO thisagreement is said to be the biggest ever multilateral trade agreement inworld trade. It is again said that the agreement is designed to simplify

customs procedures and lower trade barriers between countries. TheInternational Chamber of Commerce has estimated that the Bali deal willcut trade costs by 10-15% and will add an estimated $1 trillion to the globaltrade.

Surprisingly the Indian media and corporate bodies like FICCI and CIIhave unequivocally hailed the agreement as a major victory for India sayingthe Indian stand had prevailed and that India had indeed bent the United

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States and European Union to its will. Indian Govt. and the mainstreammedia has said that by signing the agreement, we have not only saved theWTO but have also become instrumental in causing a phenomenal increasein the global trade. Due to this agreement the world trade will grow by $1trillion and more than 18 million new jobs will be created in developingcountries. But these tall claims of the Govt. regarding the outcome at Baliare certainly far from the truth. That is why while the union commerce

minister is hailing this agreement as a historic one, organizations workingfor the interests of agriculture and farmers are branding it as an act ofbetrayal.

After the GATTs Uruguay round WTO first came into existence as aninternational trade organization in 1995. At that time it was said that joiningWTO will be a win win situation for our country. From Tokyo to California,throughout the globe our farmers can sell their fruits, vegetables and otherfarm produces and can earn a good profit out of that. Indias industrialgoods henceforth will reach the markets of dif ferent countries and will addmore dollars to our foreign exchequer. Due to free import and exportopportunity there will be a flood in the flow of capital and technology to our

country. Due to agreement on trade related to intellectual properties (TRIP)we can earn huge profits from foreign countries by patenting our scientificresearch and inventions. Under the umbrella of WTO our countrys share inworld trade will increase manyfold and our economy will prosper. In thisway, in the name of facilitating free trade, quantitative restrictions werelifted during the NDA rule under the leadership of Vajpayee. We were toldat that time that by joining WTO there will be no adverse effect on ouragriculture and industry, rather it will be beneficial to the countrys interest.

But what happened in reality? The much publicized arguments put forthby the ruling class and corporate media controlled by them have proved tobe hollow and baseless in the end. After signing of the WTO agreement, inthe last 18 years Indian farmers' dreams of selling their fruits in theCalifornian markets remain a distant dream only, rather foreign productsfrom fruits to toys have flooded our traditional markets in a big way. Thiscould only be possible because, owing to WTO pressure, we have openedour markets by lifting quantitative restrictions. On the contrary rich countriesdid not allow our goods into their markets by imposing various restrictions.Now in the name of free trade they want to end whatever subsidy is givenby the Govt. to our farmers and citizens in agriculture and food respectively.

After joining the WTO and from the time our Govt. has removed thetariff and non-tariff barriers on the goods coming from overseas, it wasseen that we became more dependent on imports from foreign count ries.Our imports, which were 11.8% of the GDP in 2001-02, have increased to27% in 2011-12. Though our exports also increased to some extent in thisperiod from 9.4% to 16.8%, but our trade def icit has increased more thanfour times from 2.4% to 10.2%. This increasing trade deficit is one of the

main reasons behind fall of Indian rupee.

Here the question arises that at what cost the much acclaimed so calledvictory in Bali was achieved? The three main pillars of the agreementreached in Bali between the 159 trade ministers were: trade facilitation,agriculture including the G-33 (group of developing countries) proposal onpublic stock holding for food security purposes and a package for the leastdeveloped countries (LDCs). On trade facilitation, India and the developingworld agreed to binding commitments to improve infrastructure at ports, toput in place systems to facilitate faster custom clearances and to invest inautomation, computerization and homogenous documentation to facilitatefaster movement of goods. The gains of this will mostly be to Western

corporations and the figure of $1 trillion increase in international trade islargely fictional. It does not account for the costs that developing countrieswill have to incur to implement the trade facilitation deal.

As for the 18 million jobs being created, the assumptions are evenmore flawed, since they neither factor in the loss of jobs that developingcountries will incur as economies open up to international trade nor thehigher unemployment that liberalization entails by tilting income distributionin favour of workers in the export sectors.

The real purpose of the agreement which was given a final form in Baliin the name of trade facilitation, was to facilitate the free entry of foreigngoods to developing countries like India. This will mean facilitating the

entry of foreign products into the Indian market. Opening Indias market toagricultural produce has long been the goal of the large agricultural produceexporting countries, especially the US and EU. That goal is close to beingrealised. India had so far managed to fend off large-scale dumping ofagricultural produce but that may be coming to an end.

Actually, to give a new lease of life to their economy and to increasetheir capacity in world trade to an unlimited level, rich countries, in the

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name of trade facilitation, have been wanting to impose new conditions oncustoms and infrastructure capacity on developing countries. By this therestrictions in customs which are still there in our ports on the entry offoreign goods, will henceforth be more liberalized. This means our importswill increase in the coming days having serious implications for our domesticmarket and above all on the trade deficit. Now our deficit in internationaltrade is more than 10%. In this situation giving more opportunity for imports

will aggravate our balance of payment crisis and will lead to further fall ofrupee.

Rich countries like US and EU have been trying for quite some yearsthrough the WTO to fix a limit to the subsidies given by the developingcountries for their domestic agriculture and food security. That is becausethe giant food grain and dairy MNCs of the developed countries know verywell that to capture the vast markets of developing countries, it is necessaryto lift these subsidies given by the local Governments. So long as theGovts in these countries continue procuring foodgrains by giving theirminimum support price and distributing food grains at subsidised rates,their trade will be seriously affected and they cannot get their expected

profits.That is why US and other developed countries have always been wanting

the developing countries to withdraw the existing subsidies given to foodand agriculture. If not completely, at least they want to cut these subsidiesto a minimum level. That is why they are forcing countries like India to limittheir agriculture subsidies to 10% of their total agricultural production costand that too at the 1986-88 price level. Put simply if the total productioncost of our agriculture is Rs.100, than the Govt can give subsidies of notmore than Rs.10. But in reality todays cost of agricultural production ismany times more than the 1986-88 level i.e. of 25 years back. Basing onthis old level WTO calculates that the MSP being given to Indian farmerstoday is 24% more than the WTO norms. But if we calculate it on the basis

of present production cost, the MSP provided to our farmers is less thantheir real production cost. Though in the last 25 years the price of rice andwheat has increased by 300%, the cost of agricultural inputs like seed,fertilizer, pesticides and other agricultural machinery has increased by anaverage 480%.

America and the European countries who have been trying to managethe world trade in their favour through the WTO are practising double

standards on the issue of agriculture and food subsidy. These developedcapitalist countries, which are seeking to impose such restrictions, haveflexibility to retain high levels of subsidies in the form of direct transfers,food stamps and other measures. The USA and the European Union aregoing ahead with their domestic subsidies as well as export subsidies byconveniently shifting subsidies to the Green Box and have refused to complywith the stipulated 20 percent reduction in their Aggregate Measure of

Support. In fact the USA has more than doubled its subsidy from US $ 61billion to US $ 130 billion between 1995 and 2010 while the EU subsidieshovered around 90 to 79 billion in 2006-09. In 2012, while USA has spentUS $ 100 billion for its food aid programmes, Indias food subsidy bill isexpected to be less than US $20 billion. Though our population is fourtimes that of US, our food subsidies are one fifth of what America is givingto its people. In 2010 alone the total agricultural subsidies of the wholedeveloped world had reached 244 billion dollars. If Americas 100 bn dollarexpenditure for food assistance in 2012 does not result in trade distortionthen how can Indias mere 20 bn dollar expenditure to provide subsidizedfood grain to 830 million hungry people be an obstacle for world trade?

Since America and other western countries have a small portion of their

population dependent on agriculture, the 10% of production cost limit incalculation of subsidies is sufficient to make their agriculture profitable.While 3% of Americans are dependent on agriculture, their agriculturalproduction cost was 200 bn dollar in 1986-88. Hence as per the WTO normsAmerica can provide 10% of its agricultural production cost i.e 20 bn dollarto its less than 3 million farming population. If we calculate this subsidy asa per capita one, then every agriculture dependent person of that countrywill naturally get 6666 dollars as subsidy per year. Similarly as many as 10million people in European Union are engaged in agriculture. Thoughagriculture comprises 240 billion dollars of their GDP, the total subsidyprovided by these Govts in this field amounts to 60 billion dollars. Thatmeans the per capita subsidy provided to every farmer in Europe is nearly

6000 dollar per year. Hence the rich countries continue to provide hugesubsidies to their agriculture but want to cut the subsidies of developingcountries only to have supremacy in world trade. They are forcing the poorcountries to cut their subsidies only in the interest of t heir own giant agrobusiness companies.

Since the Agreement on Agriculture of WTO is giving legitimacy to theseconditions it has been a bone of contention between developed and

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developing countries. There is an imminent danger to the labour intensiveagriculture of developing countries from the heavily subsidised agricultureand big agro farms of the west. That is why 33 developing countries withinthe WTO had formed a group called G-33 including India and had beenpressurising the developed countries in the interests of their own agricultureand food security. But this time, to blunt the edge of their resistance, therich countries have formulated a middle path. In this way a peace clause

was added in the Agreement on Agriculture of WTO. This so called peaceclause is only providing a relief period for restricting the rights of developingcountries for providing food and agriculture subsidies to their people. Itallows subsidies in only traditional staple food for a limited period only.Even the Prime Minister and Commerce minister had opposed this peaceclause in the past by saying, This clause is against Indias interest butaccepted it in Bali. Since India has accepted this clause in the Agreementon Agriculture in WTOs Bali conference, it was given a four year relief orpeace period according to the peace clause. In this period India and otherdeveloping countries will be allowed to continue their agricultural and foodsubsidies and none of the member countries will file any objections in thisregard in WTOs dispute redressal mechanism.

Here the question arises that though the peace clause is postponingthe subsidy crisis of India and other developing countries for the timebeing, after the completion of these four years what will happen to thiscrisis? Hence what is said about the peace clause as a temporary reliefto continue subsidies is nothing but the consent of the developing countriesto end their food and agriculture subsidies for ever.

Not only that, Indian Govt has placed the countrys entire stockholdingof food under external scrutiny and has lost sovereign control over decisionmaking regarding buffer stocks. It has allowed the WTOs Committee onAgriculture (CoA) to monitor our grain stocks. As per the Bali agreement,we are bound to give detailed information of our food and agricultural subsidy

programmes to WTO every year. Govt of India has to share the detailedinformation of its food grain production, storage, procurement, Govtsubsidies, infrastructure and the agencies concerned, with the WTO andother developed countries. If necessary, WTO or any of its member countrycan inspect our facilities to verify the information given by us. Hence byallowing this kind of interference in our internal matter, that too in the fieldof food security, the UPA Govt has seriously compromised our countryssovereignty.

But why is our Govt so desperate to push our countrys agriculture, onwhich majority of our population depends, into a crisis in the interests ofrich countries? Compromising with the agriculture and food security of ourcountry means harming the interests of 65 crore farmers and 87 crore poorconsumers of our country. This is not only shameless surrender to theimperialist countries but also an act of betrayal of the poor developingcountries of the world. Because it was seen that India, which has been

taking the lead among the G-33 developing countries to safeguard theirinterest in WTO, ultimately started a bilateral discussion with Americainstead of taking all the G-33 countries into confidence. The sudden U turntaken by India by leaving its earlier position of opposing the Agreement onAgriculture and peace clause is seen as the outcome of its bilateral talkwith America. Indias changed stand in Bali under the pressure of richcountries has caused immense damage to our image at the internationallevel particularly among developing countries.

Though Indian Govt., particularly its Commerce minister, is hailing theBali conference as successful in serving the interests of our country, butin reality it is the opposite. Whether it is today or four years later this

agreement will definitely cause serious damage to our food security andfarmers' interests. India will have to freeze the structure and modalities offood procurement now and will be unable to make changes without thepermission of the CoA. This is not only humiliating, but has introduced thedangerous precedent of foreign interference in our food security strategies.India after Bali has lost the right to use public food reserves as a plank ofits food security.

After signing the agreement the Govt cannot expand its food securityprogramme and food grain procurement programme in coming days. Exceptthe existing food grains procured by giving MSP, the Govt cannot includeany new food grain in its procurement policy. There have been demands toinclude pulses, edible oil, salt and other foods (other than rice, wheat or

millets specified in the NFSA) in its existing food security programme. Butafter the Bali agreement Govts., whether Central Govt. or the StateGovernments, can no longer introduce these in the PDS or in its procurementprogramme.

Recently the UPA Govt has enacted the National Food Security Act forproviding food at a cheaper price to our rising hungry population. In this actthere is a provision to distribute monthly 5 kilos of rice or wheat to every

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person. By this the ruling classes have restricted the food security of thepoor to a mere 5 kg of food grains per month. This food security isinadequate and is a formal one and is nothing but a cruel joke on thehunger and poverty of millions of Indians. Even during the debate in theParliament over Food Security bill, the Govt. has admitted it is inadequateand promised to increase the quantity of food grains when there will be anincrease in its production in the country. But after signing the Agreement

the Govt cannot increase the quantity of foodgrain even if there is anincrease in the production. Even during the peace clause period of fouryears, the Govt. can neither increase the allocation of food grains fromtodays level nor can include any new crop for MSP.

Since our farmers, unlike their counterparts in America or Europe, arenot getting any direct cash assistance, this WTO agreement will definitelyhave severe and long term implications for our farmers. This will definitelydevastate the lives of crores of Indian farmers and will force them toabandon farming in a big way. During the last more than two decades ofneoliberal policies including the 18 years of our j oining WTO, more than 3lakh farmers have been forced to commit suicide in rural India and thistrend is still continuing. In this situation the Bali agreement will not onlyendanger our food security but will also be the last nail in the coffin of ourIndian farmers who are already reeling under adverse domestic policiesand the utter neglect of the agriculture sector by our ruling classes.

Food security is not only a serious issue for India alone; rather it isinevitable for the existence of the worlds four billion hungry people.Developing countries like India have a vast population of poor people.They are not in a position to import food grains from the foreign market ata higher cost to cater to their growing needs. So no sensible Govt canpush the vast majority of its people to the brink of food insecurity tosafeguard the interest of agro MNCs. But under the pressure of westernimperialist countries, the anti people UPA Govt has signed the Bali

agreement in which the food security of millions of Indians and the futureof our farming community will be jeopardized.

Pharmaceutical Industry in

India An introspection.

Dr. Sujan Bose

Capitalism emerged from the late Middle age and Renaissance Europe,

to become the dominant economic system of the modern world. This systemis driven by the stimulus of so called free competition to achieve profit, andpublic interest takes a back seat. Nowhere is the difference betweencapitalists and public interest more pronounced or more important as in thesphere of public health. As a universal concern, health and healthcare hasenormous potential for profit, and unsurprisingly the pharmaceutical industryresponsible for developing and producing medicines is big business whichis set to rake in $1.1 trillion in world-wide revenue next year. Unfortunately,profit does not parallel maximization of health outcomes, and those whoare most desperate for medical help, the third world countries, are preciselythose who cannot attract private investment into solving their health problemsbecause there are limited financial incentives to do so. Only 1% of drugs

that have come into the market in the last 30 years have been developedfor combating tropical diseases and tuberculosis. On the other hand, theworld spends US$2 billion a year on surgical procedures for hair losscompared to US$547 million for malaria. This seems absurd when weconsider the enormous impact of these diseases: WHO estimates that theso-called neglected tropical diseases impair the lives of 1 billion people,while tuberculosis kills approximately 1.4 million and malaria 660,000annually. In the backdrop of this looming world health crisis, the presentarticle will try to analyze the past and present character of the IndianPharmaceutical Industry and its impact on the Indian health scenario.

1970 Indian Patent Act

An American Senate Committee (Kefauver Committee) found in the 1960sthat India was among the countries with the highest priced pharmaceuticalsin the world. In the early 1960s, theIndian governmentstarted to encouragethe growth of drug manufacturing by Indian companies to achieve self-sufficiency in pharmaceutical production. The first step was to revamp thecolonial patent legislation and abandon product patent protection formedicines. A new Patents Act in 1970 was established which allowed onlyprocess patent protection for pharmaceutical inventions. With expertise in

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reverse-engineering, Indian companies could copy an overpriced originalpatented molecule and introduce these generic medicines in the Indianmarket and abroad within a short period of time at a fraction of theoriginators price, thereby eliminating the monopoly of MNCs and their

position of dominance in the domestic market. Further, competition wasgenerated among Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers because, with no

product patents, many companies introduced the same products in the

market. Government also introduced other control measures like restrictingforeign ownership under which foreign companies were not allowed to holdmore than 50% of equity along with direct price control on all f ormulations

of about 347 bulk drugs. This competition, coupled with price control onessential medicines up to the mid-1990s (a 1995 order limited the number

of medicines under price control to 74), resulted in the availability ofmedicines at relatively lower prices.

With the 1970 Patent Act in place, the Indian Pharmaceutical Industryturnover grew from a mere $0.3 billion in 1980 to about $21.73 billion in2009-10. Today, the industry consists of more than 5,000 small, mediumand large manufacturers. The domestic market i s valued at $9.44 billion,

while pharmaceutical exports in 2009-10 amounted to some $8.79 billion invalue terms. Thepharmaceutical industryin Indiais the worlds third-largestin terms of volume [10% of global share] and stands 14th in terms of value[1.5%]. The Indian pharmaceutical industry plays a critical role in supplyingmedicines to various global treatment programmes. For instance, Indiangeneric drugs accounts for approximately 50% of the essential medicinesthat the UNICEF distributes in developing countries. Besides this, 75-80%of all medicines distributed by the International Dispensary Association(IDA) to developing countries are sourced from India. Similarly, the GlobalFund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the US PresidentsEmergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) also source a substantialpercentage of their medicine procurement from Indian manufacturers. Thus

any development that impacts the generic production capabilities in Indiawould compromise access to affordable medicines not only in India itself

but also in other countries, developed and developing alike.

Current global crisis

The global pharmaceutical industry is undergoing unprecedented levelsof transformation. Traditionally MNCs have relied for their growth on patented

drugs [new drugs] and focused mainly on developed country markets. Thehigh monopoly prices of patented drugs yielded high returns. But recentyears have witnessed a sharp fall in the number of new drugs introduced inthe market and the MNCs are increasingly finding it difficult to fill up theproduct gap as the patents on their blockbuster drugs are expiring or goingto be off-patent in the near future. Pfizer, for example, is set to lose a US$10 billion a year revenue stream as the patent on its blockbuster drug

Lipitor expires. The net profit of top 15 MNCs declined sharply by 20.1 percent in 2010 with major setback for companies such as Merck, Bristol-Myers and GlaxoSmithKline. In addition, Indian generic companies startedchallenging patents on blockbusters. As a result, global generic market,especially in the regulated market, is growing rapidly.

Another important problem facing the industry is that, with the globalfinancial crisis, the developed countries have begun cutting social securityspending as part of their economic austerity measures. This is expectedto have implications for out-of-pocket drug expenditures as well as publicprocurement of drugs.

On the other hand, some developing country markets are experiencing

rapid growth. The seven emerging markets of China, Brazil, India, Russia,South Korea, Mexico and Turkey contributed to more than half of the growthof the pharmaceutical market of the world in 2009 compared to only 16%by the developed country markets of North America, Western Europe andJapan. The figures were respectively 7% and 79% in 2001 (Tempest 2011).Indian pharmaceutical industry itself recorded spectacular growth from 1991till the first half of the 2000s. Not unexpectedly, the MNCs are targetingthe generic industry in these emerging markets as well. But they are nowfacing serious threats to self-sufficiency and ability to compete in thegeneric medicines market.

Two policy decisions by the Indian government can be identified as

crucial in the emergence of the present crisis facing the industry. The firstof these was the change in the governments policy on foreign investment,and the other was the radical change in the countrys intellectual propertyregime to comply with World Trade Organization (WTO) treaty obligations.Thus the growing control on the Indian pharmaceutical industry and marketby MNCs and their ruthless exploitation and abuse of the product patentprotection afforded by Indias current patent regime has set the country onthe present destructive course.

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[a] Foreign acquisitions and strategic alliances

In 2001 India liberalized foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for thepharmaceutical sector. As a result, 100% FDI was allowed through theautomatic route (without prior permission) in pharmaceutical manufacturing(except in sectors using recombinant DNA technology). The FDI policy didnot make any distinctions between Greenfield (new facilities) and

Brownfield (takeover of existing facilities) investments. However, duringthe last 12 years MNCs did not make any major effort to undertakeGreenfield investments in India, largely opting for Brownfield investments,i.e., acquisition of Indian companies. The share of the MNCs in the domesticformulations market has dramatically increased from less than 20% in March2008 to 28% in December 2010 with the taking over of Ranbaxy by DaiichiSankyo in June 2008; Dabur Pharma by Fresenius Kabi Oncology in August2008; Shantha Biotechs by Sanofi-Aventis in July 2009 and the domesticformulations business of Piramal Healthcare by Abbott in May 2010. Attimes MNCs offered purchase prices which were many times higher thanthe actual sales turnover of the acquired firms. For instance, Abbott paid$3.7 billion for Piramal Healthcare, whose sales revenue was reported tobe approximately $400 million. In March 2008, there was only one MNC(GSK) among the top 10 companies in India. By December 2010 the numberof MNCs in top 10 went up to three (GSK, Ranbaxy and the Abbott group).The Abbott group comprising Abbott, Piramal Healthcare and Solvay Pharmais now the largest company in India with a market share of 6.2% ahead ofthe second largest Cipla (5.7%). Abbott was the 30 thlargest company inthe domestic formulations market in March 2008 with a market share ofonly 1.1%. Thus the declining trend in the aggregate market share of theMNCs which started in the 1970s has been reversed.

The same period witnessed a series of s trategic alliances between MNCsand Indian pharmaceutical companies. Dr Reddys, for example will supplyabout 100 branded formulation to Glaxo SmithKline [GSK] for marketing in

different emerging markets across Latin America, Africa, Middle-East andAsia-Pacific excluding India. In Aurobindo-Pfizer deal, Aurobindo will supplymore than 100 formulations to Pfizer for the regulated markets of USA andEU and more than 50 products for about 70 non-US/EU markets. Thesedeals enable the MNCs to get access to low cost reliable products withoutundergoing the lengthy process of getting regulatory approvals in differentmarkets and without incurring any capital expenditure for setting upmanufacturing plants. Experience suggests that it is not easy to

simultaneously enter into different markets on their own. On the other hand,the Indian companies gain by having access to the formidable marketingresources of the MNCs. This would also deter the Indian generic companiesfrom entering into R&D activities which would result in the developmentand marketing of new drugs or the aggressive introduction of generic versionsof patented drugs.

The MNCs are not only taking over Indian companies. They are alsoconsolidating their control over the Indian counterparts. Under the ForeignExchange Regulation Act, 1973, (FERA), the pharmaceutical MNCs, whichwere manufacturing only formulations or bulk drugs not involving hightechnology were required to reduce foreign equity to 40 per cent or below.With the abolition of FERA as a part of economic reforms of the 1990s, notsurprisingly the MNCs have increased their equity stakes. Currently all thepharmaceutical MNCs listed in Indian stock exchanges like Cipla (5.7%market share in 2010), Sun (4.3%), Cadila Healthcare (3.9%), Mankind(3.2%), Alkem (3%), Lupin (2.9%) have majority shareholding of more than50%.

Earlier, the New Drug Policy, 1978 (revised in 1986) imposed restrictionson the FERA companies (i.e., those with more than 40% foreign equity)such that the MNCs were not allowed to market formulations unless theythemselves produced the bulk drugs in specified ratios. This compelledthe MNCs to undertake manufacturing investments from basic stages. Infact together with the Indian companies, the manufacturing activities ofthe MNCs too expanded after the 1970s. But after the mid-1990s, with thewithdrawal of such restrictions, the MNCs started disinvesting inmanufacturing operations which they had set up earlier under governmentpressure. This has led to increase in the propensity to import finishedmedicines for the purposes of marketing in India. One of the basicexpectations propagated by the rulers behind the FDI policy is that MNCswith huge technological resources can help host countries to developindustries. But this happens only when manufacturing activities are

undertaken by the MNCs. If they are more interested in selling importeddrugs and/or drugs manufactured by others in India, obviously the questionof technological progress does not arise.

Patented drugs can be made more affordable by imposing price controls.None of the WTO agreements forbid price control. Prices of selected drugsare controlled by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority under theDrugs Price Control Order, 1995. If the current provisions of DPCO are to

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be strictly followed, NPPA cannot ask for the details of the imported costof drugs. In fact an attempt by NPPA to do so has failed the concernedMNC went to the court to prevent NPPA from asking for cost data.NPPA isrequired to accept whatever costs the importers declare. Thus importinghigh priced drugs is one way of avoiding price control.

[b] Product patent protection

In 2005 India reintroduced the product patent regime to comply with theobligations of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of IntellectualProperty Rights (TRIPS) which mandates patent protection on both productsand processes for a period of 20 years. This replaced one of the importantpolicy tools used for the development of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.The reintroduction of product patentability takes away the freedom of Indianpharmaceutical companies to introduce generic versions of new chemicalentities (NCEs) in the normal course because NCEs often come with productpatent protection. Though product patents have been introduced from 1stJanuary 2005, earlier than that a mailbox facility was put in place to receiveand hold product patent applications. As per the TRIPS agreement, theseapplications are being processed since 1 January, 2005 for grant of patents.

Thus to understand the impact on the market structure and prices, weconsider the period since 1995. Indian generic companies are no longerpermitted to manufacture and market new drugs for which patents havebeen granted in India after 1st January, 1995. Thus any drug productpatented abroad before 1995 can continue to be manufactured and sold inIndia after 1995 even though these may be under patent protection in othercountries.

According to Article 27(1)of TRIPS, patents are required to be providedfor inventions, which are new, involve an inventive step and are capableof industrial application. The agreement however does not define theseterms. This provides some flexibility. India has taken advantage of this

flexibility by enacting Section 3(d) in the amended Patents Act andrestricting product patents to some extent. Under Section 3(d), India is notobliged to provide protection to any secondary patents (of new formulations/combinations/chemical derivatives) after 1995 involving NCEs developedbefore 1995, Unless they differ significantly in properties with regard toefficacy. Further, in cases where Indian companies were already producingand marketing before 1 January, 2005, the products for which patentapplications have been made in the mailbox, they need not suspend

production even if MNCs get the patents. Under Section 11A (7), they cancontinue to produce on payment of reasonable royalty. This is the casefor Novartis anticancer drug, imatininb mesylate.

Seven years after the introduction of product patent protection, there isample evidence of growing control of MNCs on the Indian pharmaceuticalmarket.Figures released by the Indian Patent Office reveal that out of3,488 product patents issued from 2005 to March 2010, 3,079 were grantedto MNCs.Today, the market share of patentable new drugs in India is stillvery small. But it would however not be correct to infer from here thatpatented drugs are not a problem in the country since companies arecharging exorbitant prices for certain life-threatening diseases such ascancer. For these patients it is a question of not getting proper treatment ifthey cannot afford the high cost. Moreover, it is just a few years sinceproduct patent protection has been introduced in India. Considering thetime lag between the time when an NCE/NBE is patented and when it isfinally approved for marketing, all the post- 1995 NCEs/NBEs are not yetready for the market. Some of the MNCs, for example GlaxoSmithKline,have revealed ambitious plans to launch a basket of patented products.They are expanding their marketing infrastructure in anticipation of the futurepatented market.

But even in the product patent regime, price control is not forbiddenunder TRIPS or any other agreement of the WTO. Way back in 2001, WorldTrade Organization released the Doha Declaration announcing that a memberGovernment can declare a public health emergency and start manufacturingcopies of a patented drug, or take other steps to protect public health.Moreover, there is ample scope to bring down the prices of the new drugsby compulsory licensing. As per Indian Patents Act, compulsory licensingis a permission given by the government to a non-patentee to manufacturea drug without (or even against) patentees consent after three years of thegrant on drugs that are not available at affordable prices. This is one of the

ways in which TRIPS attempts to strike a balance between promoting accessto existing drugs and promoting R&D into new drugs. I f generic companiesare given licenses to produce a patented drug on payment of royalty, thencompetition among manufacturers would drive down prices, but the royaltypaid to the innovators would continue to provide funds and the incentive forR&D. The exorbitant prices being charged by the MNCs for some of theproducts provide a very good rationale for compulsory licensing intervention.Recently the Indian Patent Office issued a compulsory license (CL) to

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domestic drug company Natco Pharma to produce pharmaceutical MNCBayers anti-cancer medicine Nexavar [sorafenib tosylate]. As a result,the medicine would be available to patients in India for Rs 8,800 per month,against Bayers price of Rs 280,000 per month.

The future impact

The days of product monopolies and high prices are back in India. Asexpected, because of the ongoing global financial crisis, MNCs have startedto target the emerging markets like India. Judging from previous takeovers,it is evident that the MNCs are mainly targeting Indian companies with ahigh level of technological capability. If the takeover drive is left unchecked,India would suffer severely especially in the realm of innovation. SinceIndian companies would get locked into the lower end of the value chain,India would be forced to compromise on need-based R&D and become

completely dependent on MNCs for meeting the countrys drug needs inthe long run. Thus, a company like Cipla, for example, can no longer see arepeat of its historic announcement in 2000 of making available genericfirst-line HIV/AIDS medicines for just $350 per person per year againstMNC prices of $10,000-12,000.

Secondly, the presence of an active domestic sector with technologicalcapabilities is needed to make use of the TRIPS flexibilities such ascompulsory licensing and patent opposition. MNC acquisitions of domesticgeneric companies would either fully eliminate or restrict the use offlexibilities. For instance, immediately after its takeover by Daiichi, Ranbaxywithdrew all the patent challenges against Pfizers blockbuster cholesteroldrug Lipitor.

Thirdly, these acquisitions would result in the capture of the marketingand distribution networks of Indian generic companies. With it the MNCswould substitute low-cost medicines with higher-priced ones, including

patented, versions. For example, the main objective of Abbotts acquisitionof Piramal Healthcare was to acquire the latters marketing and distributionnetwork, as Abbott acquired only one manufacturing facility from the Piramalgroup. With this takeover, Abbott now ranks first in market share in India.(Abbott has made it clear that there is no plan to start exporting from India.)

Fourthly, the MNCs are seeking to buy and kill off the competition in aglobal generic market which is growing at a fast pace. MNCs want to restrict

the Indian companies from getting into the regulated markets with theirlow-priced generic products. At the same time, the MNCs are also devisingtheir strategies to capture the Indian market, which, while relatively smallin global terms, is one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical markets.

Fifthly, these acquisitions would result in high medicine prices. Accordingto the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, an association of Indian

pharmaceutical companies with R&D activities, Abbott increased the pricesof medicines produced by Piramal immediately after its takeover. Forexample, price of Haemaccel was Rs 99.02 in May 2009; by May 2011 ithad gone up to Rs 215 - a 117% increase in the space of two years, whileepilepsy drug Gardenal registered a price hike of 121% during the sameperiod.

Introspection

To counter the inevitable global financial crisis, World TradeOrganization [W.T.O] with its free trade and open market policies hasbeen instrumental in promoting monopoly capitalism [imperialism] with moreaggressiveness. Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is a classic example of

the distorted and one-sided development promoted by the W.T.O TRIPSagreement. Historically, the Indian pharma industry constituted mostly small-to-medium enterprises depending solely on reverse engineering to producecheap generic drugs for the Indian market. Although some of the largercompanies did take baby steps towards new drug innovation to competeagainst the MNCs, market leaders such as Ranbaxy and Dr. ReddysLaboratories spent only 510% of their revenues on R&D, lagging behindWestern pharmaceuticals like Pfizer [worlds 2ndlargest pharmaceuticalcompany], whose research budget last year was greater than the combinedrevenues of the entire Indian pharmaceutical industry. This historicaldisadvantage of capital accumulation forms the basis of current imperialistpolicies. In reality, the industry as a whole is mainly operated as well as

controlled by dominant foreign companies having subsidiaries in India dueto availability of cheap labor in India. Thus, it was only due to the 1970Patent Act that the bleak scenario looked more deceptive till now.

The current prevailing crisis in the Indian Pharmaceutical Indust ry has

once again reaffirmed the true parasitical nature of the modern daymonopoly capitalism and exposed the semi-colonial character of the Indianstate.

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TELANGANA : TRIBALS DE-

MAND PODU LAND PATTAS

There is no land for tribals for agricultural purpose. They are poor asthey live on daily wages. Once they ate only forest produce like fruits andgourds. Their only sources of income are gum, Ippa flowers, brooms and

beedi leaves. Even after selling these goods they haven't enough moneyfor their needs. Of them only few can grow samalu, gatakalu, korrelu, Kondamaize, maizes. They eat these once a day and for the other half of the daythey eat forest products like dumpas by boiling them. Only on festive daysonly do they eat rice or half broken rice. The don't have work to do and alsohave no land for agriculture.

Forest officers harass tribals in many ways. The cattle of tribals grazein the forest, for which they have to pay a kind of levy (vullera). If tribalstouch any stick it is a cr ime. Rulers say tribal welfare is their priority, theywill give land to the poor, they say land reorganisation is being done by thegovenment. But these issues are not at all sorted out. Explaining

government's anti people activities CPI(ML)-New Democracy went to thepeople. Usually tribals don't mingle with others but our party succeeded indoing so. For land and employment they have to fight hard we told themand people gathered under the leadership of New Democracy. And thenthey were ready to fight against the Forest department.

In this way people were united. They started farming the forest land.Our party supported them and stood by them in all these struggles. Forestdepartment booked several poor tribals including women. They even foistedcriminal cases against tribals and some party leaders and imprisoned them.

Since past three to four decades in A.P., tribals have been farming. Tothem this land is the only source of livelihood. Under our leadership they

fought for pattas. In 2005 Congress Government brought the Forest RightsBill, in 2007 it was made into Act and from 2008 they started implementingit .

As per the government survey in A.P., 40 lakhs acres land is undercultivation of tribals. In that 25 lakhs was identified. Govt . agreed to givepattas upto 10 lakh acres, but instead they gave pattas upto 4 lakhs acresonly.

In Khammam district 4 lakhs have applied for pattas (i.e. 60 thousandfamilies), but pattas were given for only 1 Lakh 11 thousand acres. Otherswho expected pattas and after that bank loan, were disappointed. Theyhave only meagre rights under the rule of law for if they applied for 5 acrespatta, they only got 5 cents patta. There are many incidents like this.

Recently government has planned to take back land which tribals havebeen farming for decades. Forest Department is threatening tribals. In manyvillages department is conducting parades to threaten people. If askedthey say that tribals don't have rights to this forest land while so manytribals are leading their lives dependent on this alone. Our party took theinitiative and started agitation for pattas in Khammam District.

On 2-09-2013 we held a dharna for which 5 thousand people gathered inKothagudem. Leaflets were distributed and village meetings held in prepa-ration. Participants came by autos, tatamagic, lorries from nine mandalsfrom so many kilometres away.

The Rally went through Ganesh temple, Super bazar upto R.D.O. Of-fice. The streets of Kothagudem were filled with red flags and echoed withslogans like stop harassing tribals, those who farm the land own the land,

so on and so forth. Dharna went on before R.D.O Office for several hours.

Speakers in that meeting included AIKMS State Secretary Com. K.Rangaiah, CPI (ML) New Democracy Khammam District Secretary Com.P. Ranga Rao, AIKMS Khammam District Secretary Com. Jagganna, Presi-dent Com. Biksham, Yellandu Ex-MLA Gummadi Narsaiah. They con-demned the government attitude towards poor people. In the name of envi-ronment govenment is taking away the right to live. Right from decadesthe farmers are farming the land but are denied pattas while government isboasting that it has implemented the Forest Act. In the name of pattasgovernment is planning to take the land from the poor tribals. As part ofthis they are harassing people. The speakers condemned the activities ofgovernment and urged it to stop these immediately. In the district the rights

on land should be restored. Each tribal should be given 10 acres theydemanded. There are some weak points in the Act, they added and calledfor giving land also to those who got only 5 to 10 cents land.

District Leader Com. Chandra Aruna presided over the meeting. At theend a memorandum was given to R.D.O. Other party leaders who took partand led the Dharna included Jatoth Krishna, N. Raju, Y. Prakash, Sakru,Yetti Prasad, T. Nageshwar Rao, Savitri, Subhadra, Bose and Umar.

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Big gathering with red flags in Palvancha

Six thousand people gathered demanding pattas for forest farm land.They also demanded that Forest Dept. stop damaging the crops. As perthe Forest Act every family should be given 10 acres of land. They de-manded to implement the Forest Act. Tribals (men and women) came totake part in the congregation. The streets were ablaze with red flags and

banners. Women had come with their children with much enthusiasm. Atthe head of the rally were horn drum dancers and drummers. Party leadersK. Rangaiah, P. Ranga Rao, Gokinepally Venkateshwar Rao, GummadiNarsaiah, Nupa Bhaskar, G. Prabhakar, K. Kalpana, Jatoth Krishna, G.Lalitha, Sarojini, Padma, Kishore, A. Venkanna, Laxman, Ramu, BasinaSatyanarayana, Buchi Raju, Kallaiah, Gouse and others led the rally throughDammapeta Cross Road, Ambedkar Centre, Market Street, Bus stand roadto RDO Office. RDO Office and streets were filled with agitated people.As the RDO was ill the leaders gave t he memorandum to AO.

Land to SEZs and MNCs and oppression on tribals

In the name of environment and protection of the forest Govt. has been

forcing people to leave the podu land. Those who are actually occupyingforests are facilitated by the Forest department. Since their forefathers thetribals have their roots in the forest but that is being denied by the Forestdepartment. Tribals are being alienated from the land. This is an act ofbrutality and should be condemned by one and all. Leaders K. Rangaiah,P. Ranga Rao, Gummadi Narsaiah said the government would face theconsequences. They also demanded that Forest department must stopharassing tribals. In the RDO Office rally, leader of Palvancha division G.Venkateshwar Rao, conducted the procedings. The leaders stated that theForest Act is not being implemented properly. In Khammam district 7 Lakhacres is under control of the tribals but Govt is ready to give only 2 to 2 1/2 lakh acres as land pattas. By giving 1 cent or 2 cents of land government

is applauding itself, whereas under the Polavaram Project, 50,000 hectresof land, hills and forest will go under water. Govt is against the tribal people.In the name of SEZs, pro-corporate govt is giving huge acres of land toMNCs. The same government is denying land to genuine owners- the tribals.This partiality should be condemned by one and all. In Palvancha area,land under the 1/70 Act has also been given to Mullapudi HarichandraPrasad, Renuka Choudhary and to Navabharath Steel plants while fightingwith tribals. Tribals see their land as their lives, so the leaders gave a call

to protect the land through agitation. In this meeting Mudda Biksham, NupaBhaskar, Nimmala Rambabu, Madhusudhan Reddy, Uday Raghavendar,PDSU Sharath, PYL Rama Rao have participated.

Bhadrachalam : In Bhadrachalam, rally was organised for new pattasfor farming land and also ST Cert ificates to Gutthi Koyas. 300 people tookpart in the rally. Memorandum was given to ITDA PO. In this rally AIKMSState Gen. Secretary K. Rangaiah, K. Kalpana, Madhusudhan Reddy andothers participated.

Khammam : To stop Forest department's harrasment of tribals andpoor farmers, to implement Forest Act and give land to tribals and to de-mand that the cases on farmers be lifted, New Democracy and AIKMSKhammam division committees organised a huge rally at RDO Office. Itlasted for more than 2 hours.

The rally began from New Democracy office and went through NSPCamp, Saritha Clinic Centre, Kavitha College, Wyra Road, Bus Stand, MayuriCentre and Sanjeeva Reddy Bhavan to RDO Office. In this rally womenwith their children also participated. The slogans were: stop harassing tribals,give pattas for farm land. Arunodaya artists, with their drums and dances,attracted the town people.

Under the presidentship of Avula Venkateswarlu, P. Ranga Rao saidthat the Government is not acting as per the Forest Act and only givingpattas to 10% farmers. The tribals have been farming the land for decadeshe said. Recently Forest department is propagating that the forest shouldnot be farmed. They are threatening the tribal farmers now and then, hesaid. They are also destroying the farmed land and troubling the poor tribalsby registering false non-bailable cases. Government is giving land to bigwigs, SEZs, industries, mines, coal mines and to other projects. By start-ing APFDC it is cutting trees and doing business through plantations, hecriticized.

While speaking, party leader Gokinepally Venkateshwarlu said thatGovernment is not implementing land reorganization act and is also con-ducting raids on farmers who were farming for decades. It is also puttingPD acts on tribal farmers and by doing so they are forcing farmers to goout of villages. AIKMS Dist. leaders P. Srisailam, A. Ramu, Arjun Raoalso spoke in this meeting. Party district leader CY. Pullaiah, POW leaderG. Lalitha, Ch. Shiromani, Jhansi, Avula Mangathai, IFTU leaders A.

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Venkanna, A. Rama Rao, PYL leader K. Srinivas took part in thisprogramme.

Warangal: Rally for Podu land pattas at Narsampet

Tribal people in agency areas have been cultivating podu lands for pastthirty years but have no pattas. On December 12, 2013, a big rally washeld in Narsampet to demand pattas for podu land. Memorandum was given

to the RDO. Addressing the gathering CPI(ML)-New Democracy state com-mittee member, R. Chandrasekhar, demanded patta allocations. GummadiNarsaiah, ex-MLA of Yellandu, CPI(ML)-New Democracy Warangal Dist.Secretary Com. Chinni Chandram, AIKMS Dist. secretary PunnamPrabhakar, Kottapally Ravi, Penaka VenkannaJeevan, Prasad Chary,Mallesh Thirupathakka, also participated. People from Gudur, PakalaKothagudem, Nallabelli and Kanapuram mandals took part in the rally.

Mahbubabad: Demand for Podu land pattas

A big rally for this demand was held on 27th December 2013 and thememorandum was given to RDO. Com. Chinni Chandram reiterated thedemand in his address and said that a bigger rally will be held at the main

centre. CPI(ML)-ND Division Secretary Kottapally Ravi, AIKMS Dist. Presi-dent Punnam Prabhakar, Munjupally Veeranna, Alakuntla Sailu, Shirra Surry,Bhaskar Reddy, Sandu Venkanna and others spoke demanding that poduland pattas must be given to tribals. People came from Kesamudram,Nellibudar and Mahbubabad mandals to take part in the protest .

Parliamentary Elections 2014

True Face of BJP and

Narendra Modi

Amit Chakrabort y

The BJP has become desperate to capture power in the 2014Parliamentary Election. Already they have started the electoral fightprojecting Narendra Modi, the skilled administrator famous (!) for the Gujaratgenocide, as the future Prime Minister. Recently their victory in theAssembly Elections of some provinces has emboldened them. They haveembarked on the work of communal polarization of the voters in the UPelection by unleashing communal violence in Muzaffarnagar. On the otherhand, the anti national role of the Congress government in scams andcorruption is supplying oxygen to them. Side by side, BJP is gettingadvantage due to the opportunist role of the parliamentary left parties andthe regional parties of the so-called third front.

In recent times the media has started different types of surveys keepingthe BJP at the centre and different types of speculations have been startedamong the urban middle class. The skilled administrator, development ofGujarat, the fittest candidate - using these and many such adjectivesNarendra Modi and his Party are fighting the elections. Who are fanningthis BJP and Narendra Modi hype from behind the screen? What is theirobjective? And let us see in the light of facts- has the Narendra Modigovernment of Gujarat achieved any great success at all?

Who is trumpeting for Modi?

An US company, APCO Worldwide, has undertaken the responsibility

of building the image of Modi from 2007 onwards. From then on this firm iscampaigning for Modi and getting 25000 USD per month. APCO is the longtime foreign agent of the warmonger Israel government.

The primary activity of APCO is to build worldwide public opinion infavour of wars and weapons. They make contracts with the governmentsof different countries and manufacture public opinion in favour of wars usingthe media. APCO and the Kissinger Associates of Henry Kissinger operate

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forming strategic alliance. At the time of the Iraq war they acted to buildopinion in favour of George Bush in the name of war against terrorism.They used the Islam phobia of the west in their propaganda for war. OnIraq, when Tony Blair in UK faced peoples wrath after his announcementto join the war, APCO prepared and published a booklet, A Global Alliancefor Global Values in which Blair declared, We must commit ourselves toa complete renaissance of our strategy to defeat those that threaten us.

After the aggression of Iraq, to facilitate the loot and plunder of I raq APCOformed a task force under the leadership of the ex-US consul Ginsberg.APCO is basically a lobbying firm, like the corporate lobby maker NeeraRadia associated with the 2G scam. Manipulating the politicians, ministersand the bureaucrats of the land, they help the capitalists and the imperialiststo advance their goals by drafting and advancing model legislations andregulations. Key tools include the creation of business coalitions and fake,corporate-funded grassroots groups tailored to specific issues. Smith andBellinger were acting as the a

new democracy, january 2014

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