Left’s agenda for Committee meeting

New Delhi: Ahead of the Parliament session, the Manmohan Singh Government is expected to come under renewed pressure from the Left parties.

The UPA-Left Committee scheduled a meeting on Saturday to discuss a number of issues.

The meeting comes at a time when the Left parties have launched a nation-wide anti-price rise agitation.

The Left parties have also hailed the halt to the entire disinvestment process by the government in the wake of DMK's threat to pull out of the UPA coalition on the Neyveli divestment issue.

However, this is the first meeting between the ruling alliance and its key outside supporters after the Left parties submitted alternative proposals on resource mobilisation for implementing what they termed as "people-oriented" schemes.

The parties are seeking an immediate response to their proposals, especially in view of the government's claims that major schemes in education, healthcare and rural employment will be hampered for want of resources if the disinvestment process is halted.

Other issues that are likely to be raised by the Left parties include the situation caused by the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, the Indo-US nuclear deal, agrarian crisis in several states and the disinvestment and other economic policies.

Left leaders dismissed suggestions that they would put the issue of price rise on the backburner in view of the situation caused by the blasts, about which also they have some strong views.

Last week, CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat had launched another attack on the government.

He had accused the Planning Commission of having failed to reflect the CMP commitments on agrarian crisis, growing unemployment and food security in its Approach Paper for the 11th Plan.

Left parties are also gearing up to raise major issues like the agrarian crisis, including suicide by farmers, food crisis, price rise, disinvestment and general economic conditions in Parliament.

The Coordination Committee meeting would not go into the issue of floor coordination in the Monsoon Session beginning July 24 and there would be separate parleys between Parliamentary leaders on the issue.