Mainstream Weekly

Left at the Crossroads

Kripa Shankar — 2012-04-13T12:38:33Z

The tragedy of the communist movement in India has been that it wholly depended on the Soviet Union for guidance and considered any directive from it as the last wisdom which could not but be accepted as a religious tenet. The Soviet Union was only pursuing policies in its own interest and had nothing to do with promoting revolution in other countries but the Communists were made to believe otherwise.
When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union it asked the Indian Communists to support (…)

- 2012

The Left in India: A Critical Appraisal

Kripa Shankar — 2011-07-10T16:05:14Z

In the pre-independence period, the Communist Party of India had emerged as the main Left party although quite weak but conspicuous by its dedicated cadres who, by their immense sacrifice, had built bases among industrial workers and peasants. Their fight against the feudal elements led to a powerful base among peasantry in many pockets. Communism had an appeal among intellectuals and some top intellectuals were closely associated with the movement. The success of the Soviet Union in turning (…)

- 2011

Central Budget 2011-12 in the Context of the Rural Sector

Kripa Shankar — 2011-03-28T19:07:46Z

The revenue receipt of the Union Government for 2011-12 is estimated at Rs 7.9 lakh crores and net borrowing at Rs 4.1 lakh crores. The Central Plan outlay is estimated at Rs 5.9 lakh crores. In other words, borrow funds account for 52 per cent of the total receipts and finances 70 per cent of the Plan outlay. If the government depends on borrowings to finance the bulk of the Plan outlay there will be serious limitations in raising the quantum of expenditure on various develop-ment heads. (…)

- 2011

Indian Bourgeoisie in Post-Colonial Setting

Kripa Shankar — 2010-12-31T03:11:01Z

The Indian bourgeoisie had its genesis in the colonial order created by the British in the interest of their imperialist designs. They transplanted the European type of feudalism on Indian soil. Under British rule zamindars were owners of the bulk of the land and were free to raise revenue exactions beyond any limit. And their greed and tyranny knew no bounds. The British deliberately destroyed the handicrafts, mainly cotton textiles, to make room for British manufactures. Rural India was in (…)

- 2010

Next Step in Land Reforms in the Context of UP

Kripa Shankar — 2010-02-22T15:40:42Z

The UP Zamindari Abolition Committee Report, which is supposed to be the most radical among such reports of other States where zamindari was abolished, was wholly opposed to any land redistribution despite the fact which it had noted that less than two per cent of the zamindars in UP owned nearly 58 per cent of the land. It had found that top 9000 zamindars owned above 100 acres of land each and that their Sir and Khudkast land alone constituted one-fourth of the agricultural land. Still the (…)

- 2010

Whither Rural India?

Kripa Shankar — 2009-11-24T14:46:36Z

The rural population is at present estimated at 85 crores. Ten per cent of the households are completely landless. Another 52 per cent have holdings of less than 0.2 hectare. The per capita agricultural land in the rural areas has come down to 0.12 hectare. According to the National Sample Survey, the annual income of an agricultural household from farming is less than Rs 12,000 and from all sources it is less than Rs 25,000. The yield per hectare is now stagnating; so are the cases of the (…)

- November 2009

A Close Look at the Union Budget 2009-10

Kripa Shankar — 2009-08-05T08:15:03Z

The government has been over zealous in bailing out the corporate sector. Revenue foregone through these measures has shot up from Rs 285052 crores in 2007-08 to Rs 418095 crores in 2008-09 or an increase of Rs 133043 crores in a single year (vide, Receipt Budget 2009-10 Annexure 13 Table 12). This constitutes 69 per cent of the aggregate tax collection. This has forced the government to borrow Rs 4 lakh crores in 2009-10 as against Rs 133287 crores in the Budget estimate of 2008-09. There (…)

- August 2009

An Open Letter to the Finance Minister

Kripa Shankar — 2009-07-11T18:42:56Z

The following piece reached us late and could not be published before the presentation of the Union Budget. It is being carried now as its contents continue to be relevant.
It is characteristic of the Central Budget that only three per cent of its expenditure goes to agriculture along with animal husbandry, soil and water conservation, irrigation, cooperation, storage and warehousing, crop insurance, watershed development, wasteland and rain fed area development agricultural education etc. (…)

- July 2009

A Requiem for CPM

Kripa Shankar — 2009-06-13T13:23:53Z

The rout of Communists, particularly in West Bengal, is astounding. If after more than three decades of uninterrupted rule the Left Front has been rejected by the people it calls for serious introspection. Earlier the Congress was rejected and replaced by Communists when the former failed to live up to the expectations of the people. Now when people find that the Communists too have failed to live up to the expectations of the people they have no other option but to vote for the Congress as (…)

- June 2009

A People‘s Manifesto

Kripa Shankar — 2009-04-09T19:35:01Z

Two hundred years of colonial rule in India had turned the richest country on earth into one of the poorest. The task was to make up the leeway by optimal use of the existing physical, human and financial resources and its continued renewal and upgradation. The colonial structure needed dismantling as it was the greatest stumbling block in unleashing the vast productive potential that the country possessed. The political class to whom power was bestowed could not countenance such dismantling (…)

- April 2009