Non-friendly NGOs under CPM scanner

KOLKATA: Wizened by the role played by NGOs in the Nandigram episode, WEST Bengal CPM is drawing a strategy to control several non-government organisations working on reports from its East Midnapore district unit.

“Instead of carrying out social work and offering help to the local people, many of the NGOs have played a dirty game against our government. These NGOs have also links with the opposition parties and some fundamental forces,” a senior CPM leader from East Midnapore district told the state party leaders recently.

CPM’s trade union arm Citu is now considering proposals whether they can form trade unions among the NGOs which employ more than 40 people. “Problem is that many employees engaged in several NGOs don’t want to involve themselves in trade unionism as they feel this might not be seen as a good gesture by their employer and the employers might take punitive action against them,” Citu state secretary, Kali Ghosh told ET on Tuesday.

Mr Ghosh, however, made it clear that there was no bar for any trade union to float their units anywhere where employers-employee relations exists. “Employees of some NGOs recently met me and complained against their employers who don’t follow rules and regulations in employing people,” he said.

These employers always try to project themselves as social workers in order to deprive their employees of legitimate dues,” Mr Ghosh pointed out.

Another Citu leader, Prasanta Nandichoudhury, however, claimed that they have already floated their units in some large NGOs which have employed more than fifty persons. “Some NGOs are running private engineering colleges in different West Bengal districts like East Midnapore. We have our units in all these NGOs,” claimed Mr Nandichoudhury.

Not only at Nandigram, a number of NGOs were also very active at Singur where the Tata Motors is setting up its small car manufacturing unit on about 997 acres. The CPM is worried about the style of functioning of these NGOs because these Organisations also carry out their work at grass root levels like the CPM does.

CPM has influence among the rural population and some of these NGOs are also trying to contact the rural people and have posed an apparent threat to the CPM’s organisational network. Many of the senior CPM leaders including the state secretary Biman Bose, have therefore, raised questions about the role played by these NGOs.

The CPM had sounded a red alert about a section of NGOs in 2005 during the 21-st state conference of the party held in Kamarhati in North 24-Parganas. “We have to keep a close watch on the political activities being carried out by Anandamargis, International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) a handful of churches and NGOs,” the CPM had categorically pointed out in a document released after the state conference.

“It is one thing to carry out religious and social activities. But it is totally different if any organisation intends to carry on reactionary politics and encourage separatist movements in the name of carrying out social and religious works,” the party document pointed out categorically.

tamal.sengupta@timesgroup.com