Kollam: Communist party leaders who used to fly to attend party programmes and protests held at far-off places need not dream of flight travel anymore. They have been advised to travel only by train or bus.
The CPM State leadership has given directions to the party’s lower units to stop the practices of buying flight tickets by finding sponsors and raising funds by collecting small amounts from the people.
The direction is as per the party’s new rectification document which recommends a stringent ban on unnecessary fund collection, and the extravagant, lavish lifestyle of the party leaders, even in the lower units.
The leaders are also restricted from flying to attend the programmes of Students' Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and such frontal organisations held in Delhi and other places. Though the leaders of these organisations had sought permission for flight travel soon after M V Govindan took charge as the Party's Kerala State Secretary, it was turned down.
The party has also banned representatives from Kerala from travelling by plane to Bengaluru to attend the national conference of the CITI scheduled from January 18 to 22.
The direction is that the members of the union which the leader represents can raise funds so that their representative leader can travel by train. About 650 representatives heading for the conference are from Kerala.
Exempted club
While the ban applies to even the legislators, it does not apply to the senior leaders whose travel expenses are borne by the party, and the MPs who are eligible for free air tickets.
Self-appraisal
The CPM leadership has also directed to evaluate how much the directives in the rectification documents approved by the party earlier have been effected in each party unit.
It should be strictly monitored whether the party leaders follow a communist lifestyle. Besides controlling lavishness and drug abuse among members of Student and Youth federations of the party, those who ‘protect’ such members must be caught red-handed, the rectification document says.
