Does the Left Have an Alternative?

There is a widespread view that the Left in India only criticize the policies of the Government, without showing any alternative. This needs to be discussed.

But what is the meaning of “alternative”? The policies followed at present by the Government of India are the policies required by the Indian capitalists lead by the big capitalists. To maintain their profits, in the present global situation, the Indian capitalists have to collaborate and integrate  more and more with the international finance capital. Hence the policies of the UPA Government (earlier the NDA Government) or the Government of any party or combination of parties representing the interests of the Indian capitalists will go in this direction only. This is the reason why the Manmohan Singh Government recently announced several decisions like allowing FDI in retail trade, increasing the prices of petrole, cooking gas etc, opening up of pension and insurance sectors to global finance capital etc. These decisions are for appeasing the international finance capital. It is needed because the Indian capitalists needed it for the sake of their profits. In this context, “alternative” means breaking away from this correlation between the Indian capitalists and the international finance capital. It is breaking away from this given situation. It is possible only with a struggle. It is not possible within the given situation. Therefore no real alternative is possible within the given situation, within the given relation existing between the Indian capitalists and the international finance capital.

But at the same time, the alternative proposed by the Left cannot be a call for socialism, for which the conditions are not yet ready. The balance of force between the ruling classes and the people are not yet ready for it. The conditions are yet to be built up. But at the same time the alternative cannot be simply accepting the broad requirements of the Indian capitalist classes and suggesting some minor changes in it. If the Left accepts the constraints of the ruling classes and then makes certain demands on that basis, it cannot be alternative; it can be only the replication of the policies of the ruling classes.

The alternative proposed by the Left in the present context cannot be for overthrowing the present system for establishing socialism. At the same time it cannot be within the purview of accepting the constraints of the Indian capitalists. It is some thing realisable with in the present system of society dominated by the capitalists and landlords, but at the same time not as per the present day requirements of the ruling classes (capitalists and landlords). It is a transitional demand, a demand that can be realised within the system, but only by means of a serious struggle against the ruling classes. It is a demand which people want and which the people believe to be capable of realisation.

What can be such a demand which is the real alternative, being proposed by the Left and which the people can accept as a credible programme? Does such a real alternative exist today and if so whether the Left are championing and struggling for it?

The answer is yes. The Left has been raising a number of demands over the last several months and these entire demands together amount to an alternative economic agenda. The Left is not simply rejecting the reforms of Manmohan Singh Government. They are also proposing the alternative. What it is?

The alternative proposed by the Left is creation of a mechanism for universal access to a set of basic minimum provisions to all citizens. The Left demanded universal access to food (on which it has carried out agitations), universal access to employment (with the left lead Governments taking initiative to introduce urban employment guarantee schemes), free and compulsory primary education, free and universal access to healthcare, old age pensions and care for the handicapped and disabled.

But all these demands are not the core demands of the Left’s alternative agenda where the main issues are radical land reforms and other fundamental changes. These demands for access to basic provisions are only the starting point of the alternative. There is already the public discussion on these demands related to the basic provisions of food, health, employment, education, pension etc. But the Government is desperately trying to waterdown the existing facilities regarding these basic provisions.

While the ruling classes (capitalists and landlords) and the Governments at the centre and the states representing their interests are going ahead with various measures for diluting the existing provisions regarding the basic amenities, the Left’s alternative starts with a fight for protecting and enhancing the provisions regarding basic necessities. The institutionalisation (making laws and creating institutions for their implementation) of universal access to food, education,. Employment, healthcare, old age security and care for the physically handicapped,  is realisable with in the present social system, although the ruling classes are against it.

A doubt may arise in this regard. If the ruling classes are against the institutionalization of the universal access to these provisions, then how the Manmohan Singh Government enacted MNREGA (law for providing employment in rural areas), introduced the RSVY (Rashtriya Swasthya Vikas Yojana), enacted the  right to education, and now  working out the food security legislation? Yes, the ruling classes are doing some thing regarding all these issues. But what is that? It is nothing but diluting even the existing measures, instead of making these provisions universally accessible.

Despite enactment of the Right to Education, a large proportion of children continue to be out of school, doing all sorts of menial jobs for their survival. The RSVY, instead of providing universal ccess to health care, is meant for siphoning the money of the Government to the private hospitals and insurance companies. Even the MNREGS (Rural employment guarantee scheme) which the UPA Government was forced to enact when it was dependent on the support of the Left, is now being diluted to a large extent making it a shadow of its former self. The fact is that the necessities of the ruling classes do not allow universal access to such provisions and if they are forced to introduce some limited measures, they also take steps to dismantle them as early as possible.

What is the cost of making the universal access to all citizens to the basic provisions of food, education, healthcare, employment and old age security? Whether the resources are available to meet this cost?

The cost of subsidy for  providing universal access to 35 kg of food grains to every family per month at Rs 2/- per kilo will be Rs 1,20,000 crore per year.

The cost of Universal Employment Guarantee Scheme will be Rs 80,000 crore per year.

The implementation of right to education making primary education compulsory and free to all will cost Rs 40,000 crore per year.

A comprehensive health care scheme for all will cost Rs 1,00,000 crore per year.

A universal old age pension scheme which provides a pension of Rs 2000 per month per person for around 8 crore beneficiaries will cost Rs 1,92,000 crore per year.

Altogether, the universal access to these five basic provisions will cost Rs 5,32,000 crore per year.

If the State support for the physically handicapped is also taken into account, the total expenditure will be Rs 6,00,000  crore per year. But already some expenditure is being incurred for food subsidy, Rural Employment Guarantee, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan etc and therefore the additional expenditure for institutionalising the  universal access to these five basic provisions and support to the physically handicapped  will be Rs 5,00,000 crore per year. This is 5 per cent of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product). An expenditure target of this magnitude is entirely realisable.

This Rs 5,00,000 crore per year required to provide universal access to food, education, employment, health care, old age pension and support to the physically disabled is not more than the concessions given to the rich and the corporate in the budget per year, in the last few budgets of the Central Government.

But it is not possible to give tax concessions to the rich to the extent of Rs 5,00,000 crore per year and also to provide universal access to the basic provisions at the cost of Rs 5,00,000 crore per year. If one is done, the other cannot be done. The neo-liberal policies required by the Indian capitalists and being implemented by the Government representing their interests are necessarily denying the universal provisioning of these basic necessities. On the other hand, these policies will impose more and more burdens on the people.

Therefore to get the Left’s alternative of implementing the universal provision of basic necessities, the neo-liberal policies favouring the rich and corporate are to be reversed. It is possible only through a struggle. If the path of the struggle is abandoned, the alternative will appear as   impracticable.

If these demands for universal provision of basic necessities are achieved either by compelling the ruling classes to accept for these demands or if the Left can implement them by the limited access to power that is allowed to it with in the present system, then more radical demands can be raised and struggles can be organised around such demands.

(This is a note prepared by me on the article “Does the Left have an Alternative” written by the well known Marxist economist Prabhat Patnaik and published in “Peoples’ Democracy” October 28, 2012 issue. For this article, see the website “pd.cpim.org”---P.Asokababu)