UCPN(Maoist) forms 'production brigade' for ex-YCL

POKHARA, Aug 24: Following a decision endorsed by the Hetauda general convention last February, the UCPN (Maoist) on Friday unveiled a ´production brigade´, which the party has decided to use actively in the CA polls scheduled for November 19.



The party had announced it would form the brigade purportedly in a bid to boost production and entrepreneurship in the country, but UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has now announced that the party is to make maximum use of the brigade for the upcoming election. “The brigade shall play an important role in order to create an environment for the election that is fair and free of fear and to protect the right to vote,” he said. [break]



Speaking at a function in Pokhara, Dahal announced the formation of the body under the leadership of former YCL Kaski district chief and YCL central secretariat member Deepak Koirala. The first such brigade is named Annapurna Production Brigade and its membership comprises former members of the YCL.





The party had decided to come up with production and construction programs to keep its ´whole timer´ cadres preoccupied.

Meanwhile, the party had also reached the conclusion that it should now focus on economic revolution, thinking that the political revolution was over.



This is something new in the party line and it will be carried out in other places as well, Dahal said at the function. At present the brigade has been formed in a rudimentary fashion but it will acquire great strategic value in future, he stressed adding that the brigade is supposed to connect people across the country.

He instructed the newly formed brigade to strictly follow the command structure, as in the PLA during the conflict era. He opined that once the youths of the country are engaged in production and development, the increasing tendency to go abroad for employment would be discouraged.



Talking about the aim of the ´production brigade´, party Central Committee Member Janardhan Sharma said, “The group will go for cluster farming in agriculture, build transportation infrastructure, open factories, control corruption and help minimize fraud with the active participation of the general public.”



Koirala, the newly appointed coordinator of the ´brigade´, said the tasks and responsibilities of the body would be announced within a few days. The brigade comprises about 100 youths including a few females. Also present at the function was former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai among others.

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