Tamil Nadu:
Martyr Comrade Mahendra Singh Contributed One Month’s Salary to Tsunami Relief Shortly before he was killed, Comrade Mahendra Singh, who was a CPI(ML) MLA in Jharkhand Assembly, donated a month’s salary to the tsunami relief fund. In Ranchi, and many other places, party leaders and cadres collected relief fund and materials to be sent to tsunami victims. |
On January 1, the workers of Ambattur and Tiruvotriyur, the landless agrarian labourers of Cuddalore, Nagapattanam and Pudukkottai and the beedi and unorganised workers of Tirunelveli held meetings and held a yatra to reach out to the affected. Comrade V. Shankar, CCM, flagged off the yatra with 3 lorries, 1 van and a car. The lorries collected relief materials from Ambattur and Ayanavaram, and the rally reached the Tiruvotriyur AICCTU office in the evening. The Solidarity Council, Tiruvotriyur organised a public meeting explaining the purpose of the yatra. About 100 workers participated in this. The convoy picked up more relief materials from friendly organisations and one more vehicle joined the convoy.
The yatra then reached Kancheepuram district office of the party in Vandalur. From there it went to coastal villages of Chemmancheri and New Kalpakkam and distributed materials to the affected people.
The Pondicherry units of CPI(ML) and AICCTU then received the yatra led by CCMs Comrades Balasundaram and Kumarasamy. The Pondicherry comrades joined the convoy with another vehicle. In Pondy, relief materials were distributed in a fishing hamlet on the morning of 2 January. Then the yatra was received in Cuddalore by CPI(ML), AICCTU and SGWU leaders. Some relief materials were handed over to the Cuddalore team for local distribution and then the yatra proceeded to Nagapattinam. On the way it was joined by another team from Namakkal, Salem, Karur and Viruddachalam led by CPI(ML), AICCTU and RYA comrades with a full lorry load of materials. When the yatra reached Sendankudi, Sirkali in Nagapattinam district, the convoy was received with flags and banners by CPI(ML) and AIALA comrades. In Sirkali another lorry of relief materials joined the convoy. Comrades from Pudukkottai, Tanjore and Tiruchi joined in.
From there the convoy of motor cycles, vans, cars and lorries raced to Poompuhar and the nearly coastal villages. The Party and the AIALA had organised two camps there. There was a public meeting in the market place of Dharanikulam, Poompuhar. All the relief materials were stored in the camps. From there they were taken to different coastal villages and distributed. Similar measures were initiated in the southern districts.
Local activists of Nagai and Tanjore and school teachers from Pudukkottai numbering 35 stayed back in Nagapattinam to continue their work in the local affected areas.
Comrades from CPI(ML), AICCTU, AIALA, AIPWA, RYA, AISA and Solidarity Council fanned out throughout Tamil Nadu and reached out even to remote areas where the government machinery did not even go. Within a few days they collected a huge quantity of materials and contributions up to Rs.5 lakhs.
Now three teams are again going back to the affected areas. Comrades Shankar, AS Kumar, Eraniyappan and Janakiraman will be going to the affected areas of Chennai, Kanchi and Tiruvalluvar districts with particular emphasis on Kalpakkam. They will assess the damage and relief measure undertaken. Another team comprising Balasundaram, Balasubramaniyam, Gunasekaran, Selvaraj and Vidudalaikumaran will go to Pondy, Cuddalore and Nagapattinam. A third team consisting of Kumarasamy, Sankarapandiyan and Bhuvana will go to the southern districts. A consolidated report will be released to the media on 25 January.
The CPI(ML) is one of the few voices challenging the government and asking the people to rise in protest to ensure adequate relief. With the money collected, the Party has plans to construct reading room-cum-community halls with drinking water in at least two or three places in the affected areas.
* Central government announced a relief of Rs. 1 lakh to the kin of the dead. Not a single person has been given money;
* Even 15 days after the disaster, central relief funds have not reached the state;
* Out of 7000 dead, the state government has not given relief to more than 2500 till date;
* The state government has not identified the loss caused due to destruction of boats, nets, fishing instruments, movable properties and household articles;
* Slowly the state government has started constructing some temporary shelters;
* Rehabilitation work has not yet commenced. Fishing activities have not yet commenced;
* A great majority of the affected have not been identified as beneficiaries;
* In Nagapattinam district alone, more than 300 villages and 30000 acres of land have been affected due to the sea water entering the fields;
* Other than fisherfolk, dalits, Vanniyars and others are also affected in the coastal areas;
* The government, in order to cover up its own inaction and criminal negligence, is trying to create contradictions among the people: i.e., among fisherfolk, and between fisherfolk and other downtrodden masses; and
* Rs. 5 lakh should be given to the families of the dead; employment should be given to the surviving members;
* Damages to movable and unmovable property should be compensated;
* Among the fisherfolk all the affected should be covered;
* Other sections of rural poor affected by the tsunami should also be covered;
* All those who lost agricultural land should be compensated; the lands should be desalinated to make them fertile again;
* Rehabilitation and relief should be done without delay.
—S.Kumarasamy
