K E R A L A M O N I T O R. C O M Kerala Dinesh Beedi in Crisis Who Disowns the Working Class? Shabeer Vakkom The 36-year old Kerala Dinesh Beedi (KDB), one of the prestigious worker's cooperatives in India (and a role model for such endeavours in the entire Third World), has been in the throes of a severe crisis for the last several months. For the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), the challenge is formidable for two reasons. First, the KDB is its own brainchild and the management is still controlled by the CPI (M). Secondly, the KDB being one of the important traditional industries in the Kannur district, the current crisis may have tremendous implications for the two bye-elections scheduled for the month of June. Incidentally, the two constituencies are located in the very same district where the working class anxiety is snowballing everyday on the questions of KDB's survival. Kannur has traditionally been the heartland of left politics and working class struggles in Kerala. This was the place where the undivided Communist Party could effectively mobilise the working class against all forces who stood in the way of their interests. It may seem strange that the leaders of the same working class party - CPI (M) - who had long been the vanguard of the downtrodden (and protecting and giving patronage to the traditional industries in the district), are instrumental in undermining them, if not destroying them. The experience of KDB is so glaring here. The shift of emphasis towards neoliberal programmes and strategies is conspicuous in the priorities given by the CPI (M) today - to the hi-tech IT park/Amusement water theme facilities/AC auditorium/super speciality hospitals/ resorts/hypermarket etc. as against traditional industries where hundreds of thousands of workers are reeling under pressure and many on the verge of collapse. One cannot see this as an aberration but to be understood in the light/and as part of the emerging programmes and strategies of the CPI (M). Insofar as Kannur happens to be a place where working class consciousness is deep-rooted, this change of attitude and perception goes deeper to the party structure and ideology unfolding a new elitism within it. Kannur saw many vicissitudes of working class struggles in the past. This communist fortress bore witness to labour being transformed as a social process - from labour as a mere livelihood. In fact, working class consciousness developed in the region with the formation of the Congress Socialist Party in the 1930s. Class oriented trade unionism began alongside this. The workers as such sustained a nationalist spirit and anti-imperialist fervour. That was the period when workers were being ruthlessly exploited by the nascent industrialists and feudal landlords. What they earned from their labour was mere pittance - too insufficient to make both the ends meet. Beedi workers had to bear the brunt of this superexploitation. It was in the background of these difficulties and tensions that the workers were able to organize themselves. The first of such effort was the formation the Beedi Workers Union way back in 1935. This was the time when a good majority of the trade union workers were active in the Indian National Congress. Inevitably, they were a part of the nationalist movement. It was then that they were moved by the enchanting slogan " workers of the world unite…" Since then the Beedi workers had not only fought for their survival (and to get a reasonable wage for their labour) but became more concerned about other social and political issues as well. The working class struggles and resistance in Kannur (which the communists always held in highest esteem) mainly consisted of these Beedi workers during the last four decades. Over the years, the beedi workers' class-consciousness expanded beyond their realm to encompass other critical questions of the time. KDB's genesis in the 1960s was, therefore, a landmark in the history of Kerala. The passing of the Beedi and Cigar Workers' Conditions of Employment Act in 1966 by the central government was certainly a milestone in the working class struggles in India. However, in the wake of this, many Beedi manufacturers including Ganesh Beedi left the state rendering thousands of workers jobless. Kannur alone witnessed more than 10,000 workers becoming unemployed. The Communist Party and its workers could overcome this crisis by mobilizing Rs.1 from each unemployed worker to form a workers' cooperative society called Kerala Dinesh Beedi on 15 February 1969. The Communist government of Kerala led by EMS Nampoothiripad invested Rs. 1.35 million as share capital and sanctioned a working capital loan of Rs. 700,000. It was a peculiar situation of workers themselves becoming the owners of the industry. The major aim of the workers cooperative society was to give employment to thousands of workers who became jobless during this time. The KDB thus became a model cooperative enterprise, which provided the workers with confidence, courage and self-respect. The KDB, over years, had grown into a major cooperative venture employing nearly 42,000 workers. Initially, a worker used to get less than Rs.4 for rolling 1000 beedis a day. It had increased to Rs.78.50 for rolling 900 beedis a day, which means a worker, could earn up to Rs.2000 a month. Besides, the workers enjoyed holidays, leaves, pension benefits, maternity leaves, bonus etc. as in any public enterprise. KDB has been operating as a federated structure with 22 primary societies spread across Kannur, Kasargode and Kozhikode districts, which operated 200 beedi centres. It has a central management unit that carries on raw materials purchase, marketing and financial services. Much of the problems the KDB faces today started in the 1990s when it began to introduce diversification. It was found to be necessary when tobacco industry began to decline. The crisis mounted as low-cost filter cigarettes became popular and health awareness campaign against smoking was well underway. The beedi industry, on the whole, became non-profitable at this time. The management thus conducted extensive research to explore the possibilities of diversification particularly towards agro-processing. The plan was to shift 25 per cent for the workforce towards activities associated with diversification over the next decade. As such, KDB had invested a good amount of its financial reserve to train workers in the production of curry powders, pickles etc. During this time a Report presented by Richard Franke, Pyaralal Raghavan and Thomas Isaac came as an impetus for the speedy implementation of diversification. It said that "KDB is attempting a humane and democratic shift away from tobacco while maintaining the incomes of its workers." Thus, in the second half of the 1990s, the KDB started production of pickles and curry powders. This was the period when the LDF-led government initiated the People's Plan Campaign for decentralization and local level development. The time was obviously conducive for a good market strategy at the grassroot level. Unfortunately, neither the KDB management nor the CPI (M)-led working class popularized the products of this workers' cooperative. As a result, pickles and curry powders got accumulated in the godowns of the cooperatives even as beedis worth Rs. 25 crore did not find any customers. In fact, the KDB had to face stiff competition from diverse sources in the era of globalisation and, obviously, it lacked an effective market strategy to popularize its products. When the People's Plan Campaign was well underway, the CPI (M) comrades had a great opportunity to sustain a good market for products locally manufactured. But they had little regard for the 'working class-produced' consumer items. On the other hand, many multinational products and new brand names found new takers in the state. As such, the claim of the LDF government that the People's Plan was an effective strategy to check the onslaught of globalisation turned out to be hypocritical and a betrayal of its own cause. Surprisingly, when the KDB was moving from one crisis to another, the CPI (M) comrades, who were supposed to protect the interest of beedi workers, switched over to private financial investments elsewhere. Overlooking the future of the KDB, the party leadership started new ventures such as AC auditorium, IT park, hyper market, Amusement park, resorts, super speciality hospitals etc. - all came to be seen as a major shift of the party's priorities even as the beedi workers were moving from poverty to starvation. When diversification went wrong (or did not achieve its desired objectives), KDB began to decline. The capital that could have been used for workers' interests with strict planning and monitoring was bound to fall into the hi-tech basket. As the survival of the KDB was very much in doubt, the management decided to introduce austerity measures such as job cuts, freeze on bonus and gratuity etc. The management sought the reduction of the production cost considerably by cutting working days to three a week {from six}. The workers have to forget the days when they were rolling as many as 900 beedis a day and thus reducing it to half of what they did in a year. The number of workers during this time has come down to17, 000 and the job cuts are a common feature now. According to the workers, the party leadership is only interested in amusement parks, super speciality hospitals and resorts and has very little interest in saving the 36-year old cooperative society. Disgruntled by the prevailing confusion and tensions, the workers of the KDB recently took to agitational path and blockaded the society's headquarters in Kannur - a rare event in party- controlled institutions. Yet, both the management and the party leadership remain unmoved putting the blame on increased health awareness and stiff competition from low-cost cigarettes. What the management ultimately agreed to was a 5 per cent relaxation to its earlier decision to cut 50 per cent productivity. The chairman of the KDB is still confident that even if the society is able to bring back at least 20 per cent of its customers, the crisis can effectively be got through. There may be ethical questions about sustaining a tobacco industry in the current scenario of increased health awareness across the world. Yet, the CPI (M) cannot disown this worker's cooperative on the strength of this argument alone. If diversification is the potential option, that can still be tried out provided the thousands of working class families in the state, at least, buy and popularize Dinesh brand products, instead of pushing them to run after MNC's brand names. The CPI (M) has now a formidable task before it. If it is seriously concerned about rescuing, at least, a few traditional industries in the state, like KDB, it should ensure a sustainable market in the state for their products, which is not at all a difficult thing in the present scenario. Certainly, the two bye-elections to be held in June in the left bastions of the Kannur district will provide them opportunities to ponder over such issues of the working class. CPM - Intellectuals become Liability for Vested Interested Party Members? M.N.Vijayan under Siege: Intellectual as Liability? by Shabeer Vakkom Prof. M.N. Vijayan, the noted writer and left intellectual who recently bid farewell to the CPI (M)-led progressive camp, continues to be the object of uncharitable public disparagement - mostly from his erstwhile colleagues and fellow comrades. The vilification campaign initiated in the party mouth organs such as Deshabhimani and Chintha reached a critical point with comments bordering on character assassination. Among those who attacked him in the party organs included R.S. Babu, C.P.Narayanan, Joseph and G.P.Ramachandra, Eyancode Sridharan, Rajeev et al. Even as this campaign has been underway, some others also have come up with weird arguments against Prof. Vijayan. One such instance is a piece by J. Reghu in Pachakuthira, a monthly published by DC Books. The April issue of the magazine, which carried Reghu's article, depicted Prof. Vijayan as representing the brahiminical/upperclass tradition of the CPI [M] who "skillfully concealed the more subtle microlevel exploitation of the lower class/subaltern sections" by blowing up the macro level issues such as globalisation, imperialism etc. Reghu calls this as a typical "diversionary tactic" of the left intellectual. Similar attacks have appeared in other publications also. Unfortunately, Prof.Vijayan, who has spent more than three decades for the left cause in Kerala, is now under siege and the civil society of Kerala remains a passive spectator. Full Report M.N.Vijayan under Siege: Intellectual as Liability? More