Patna, December 1:
SUCI(Communist) activists came out on the streets and burnt the effigy of PM Manmohan Singh at Patna junction Roundabout in support of the Bandh called by Confederation of All India Traders and Bharat Byapar Udyog Mandal against most heinous decision of the Congress-led UPA government to allow 51% FDI in retail sector.
The speakers while addressing the gathering before and after burning the effigy said that the small businessmen will be wiped out due to the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The rate of unemployment would rise and the condition of common people would worsen certainly as its consequence. The retail prices of commodities would go up. The speakers said, “Seeing the deepening crisis due to Wall-Mart the US president Obama advised his countrymen to support small businesses by shopping local stores, where as in India our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is adamant on allowing FDI in the country”. The speakers referred the eye-opening study entitled “Wal-Mart and Poverty” conducted in USA which clearly brought out that those American states that had more Wal-Mart stores in 1987, had higher poverty rates by 1999 than the states where fewer stores were set up. The speaker refuted the arguments placed by the government that the big retail helps to remove the middlemen and therefore provides a better price to farmers. Emphasizing upon the imperative need to build up powerful resistance movement against this out and out anti people move of the central government.
The meeting was addressed by Shivlal Prasad, Indradeo Ray, both State Committee Members. The others who spoke on the occasion were Awadhesh Kumar, Suryakar Jitendra, Rajkumar Chaudhary and Anamika, all Patna District Committee Members, SUCI (Communist).
