Continuing Validity of the October Revolution HKS Surjeet has emphasised the relevance and validity of Marxism & Leninism. Communal Agenda is on with a Vengeance This Vajpayee-led government appears to have begun, in right earnest, the task of undermining the secular democratic character of the Republic of India. Help Orissa in this Time of Distress Prakash karat call upon the people to extend all out co-operation for Orissa. Sharp Contrasts An overview

Comrade Biman Basu and I, on behalf of the Polit Bureau, visited Bhubaneswar on November 3 to assess the damage caused by the devastating cyclone which hit Orissa and to discuss how the Party can organise relief activities with the Orissa State Committee of the Party. Four days after the cyclone, the terrible damage caused was very much visible in the capital city. We visited some of the affected areas in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

From the discussions with the state Secretariat, the picture which has emerged is of unprecedented destruction and loss of lives and properties which has affected one and a half crore people in eleven districts of the state. Stretching from Baleshwar district down to Puri district, the entire coastal belt of over 200 kms was hit by the cyclone on October 29-30. The epicenter of this huge cyclonic storm was Jagatsinghpur district, where Paradip port town is situated. Some of the worst affected areas are, apart from Paradip town, Kunjango, Eksamma and Tirtha in Jagatsinghpur; Mahakalapada in Kendrapara district and Ashtaranga of Puri district.

Unfortunately, for the state an earlier cyclone had also hit the Ganjam and Gajapathi districts on October 17. What was unique about this cyclone was the long duration of the high velocity winds which caused the maximum damage. Paradip was subjected to the storm for 32 hours. Both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack faced the storm for more than 24 hours. Cuttack has particularly been badly hit. In Bhubaneswar, even after four days there is no electricity, telephones are not working and in most parts there is no water supply. The worst affected peoples in the towns are those living in the thatched huts in the slums. It is still not possible to come to any accurate estimate about the death toll. It is, however, clear that the maximum loss of life has been in the Paradip and neighbouring areas.

In terms of the economic life of the state, the damage is incalculable. The standing crops in all the affected areas have been destroyed. All coconut and banana trees have been uprooted. Apart from immediate relief, restoration of normal economic life itself will be a major task.

The Orissa State Committee is working out a plan for organising relief and rehabilitation activities in some selected centres in the affected districts. It was decided that out of the funds raised for relief work by the Party (outside West Bengal), immediately Rs. 10 lakhs worth of relief materials will be send. This will be in the form of baby food, polythene sheets, cotton blankets and clothes. Rs. 5 lakhs in cash will also be sent for relief and rehabilitation work.

In West Bengal, the Party has given a call on November 6 and 7 for fund collection. It was decided that the districts will themselves send the relief material to Orissa by trucks. The supplies will include medicine, saris, children's garments, candles, matchboxes etc. Six medical teams consisting of four doctors each and two junior doctors will be dispatched for running medical camps. Already the Midnapore district committee is supplying rice and pulses for a commuting kitchen in Remina in Baleshwar district. Biman Basu brought along five boxes of medicines from Calcutta which was handed over to the state committee.

The Andhra Pradesh state committee will send a medical team to Paradip for running a medical camp, where there are a large number of Telugu-speaking people living.

The Left Front government of West Bengal has been active in sending relief. On November 3, Gautam Deb, Minister for Public Health Engineering and Housing and Satya Mahato, Minister for Relief visited Bhubaneswar and handed over a letter from the Chief Minister of West Bengal and a cheque of Rs. 50 lakh. Upto now, the West Bengal government has send Rs. 2.5 crores worth of materials. It has planned to send a total of Rs. 10 crore worth of relief materials to Orissa.

The Kerala government has sent Rs. 50 lakhs to the Orissa government. The Tripura government has also decided to donate Rs.25 lakhs.

In view of the extensive relief work required for atleast a period of one month, to be conducted by the Orissa state committee of the Party, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) requests all state units to make serious efforts to collect money from the people. The Party Centre has setup a unit headed by Joginder Sharma, Member of the Central Committee to coordinate the buying and sending of relief materials to Orissa.

All drafts and cheques should be send to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Central Committee..