The T-MASS Forum’s general body meeting on Thursday passed resolutions for formation of village and mandal-level committees for the Forum, and for popular movements starting from January next year.
CPI(M) State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram, who is a part of the steering committee, called upon the State and district committees of the T-Mass Forum to focus on taking the movement for social justice and comprehensive development to village and mandal levels. It is a difficult task as mandal and village spaces are tightly controlled by political forces. Spurring the committees to action, Mr. Veerabhadram urged them to be on roads conducting street struggles along the lines of Telangana movement starting from January.
Academic and writer Kancha Ilaiah has stressed on the need to democratise market spaces in order to contain farmers’ suicides owing to private loans in Telangana. The present market relations are caught in the caste framework, and unless all castes were allowed to participate in the trade, market democracy will not be possible, he said.
“There is an imminent need for the Shoodra, SC, ST and BC communities to stake their claim for share in private capital, which is presently concentrated in the hands of two castes,” Prof. Ilaiah said.
He had words of praise for Kerala which leads the country in literacy and average per capita income, and called for Telangana to be made another Kerala. Balladeer and steering committee member Gaddar hailed the coming together of followers of Karl Marx, Jothirao Phule and Ambedkar, and called for the movement to be taken to masses.
Convenor of the Forum John Wesley read out the future course of action, and asked the members to form as many town and mandal-level committees as possible between October 15 and November 30.