CPI’s 25th Party Congress Elects D Raja As The General Secretary For The Third Time

The Communist Party of India(CPI) concluded its five day Party Congress at Chandigarh on September 25 reelecting D. Raja as the general secretary of the CPI for another three year term. Raja is the first dalit leader to head the CPI in 2019 after the then party secretary S Sudhakar Reddy sought retirement. Raja was reelected at the 24th Party Congress and now at the 25th party congress, he was granted the third term by giving him a special exemption from the age limit.

The 25th party congress adopted a number of resolutions including support to the people of Palestine, the heroic struggle of the people of Cuba, the fight against federalism and also covering a number of economic issues. The party leaders expressed big satisfaction at the exuberance shown by the delegates at the five day meet and the grand success of the cultural functions.

The CPI adopted a resolution at its 25th party congress in Chandigarh reaffirming that health is a fundamental right and that universal access to free quality healthcare is essential for social and economic development of India.

The party congress which concluded on September 25 discussed at length the problems being faced by the people in health care in the country’s hospitals in the present period felt that despite some progress, India’s health system continues to be constrained by low public investment and high out of pocket expenditure by the common people for medical issues.

According to the CPI, Public spending on health remains below 2% of GDP, pushing millions into poverty every year due to medical costs. According to NITI Aayog, 7% of households about 10crore people are pushed into poverty every year due to out of pocket health care expenditure. Government’s blatant support to the corporate sector in health care has added to people’s woes which are further getting worse with increasing foreign equity in health care field. Worse is that there is a subtle move to spread communal Hindutva, obscurantist ideology and introduce pseudoscience and myths in the medical science.

The 25th Congress of the CPI emphasized the urgent need to achieve Universal Health Care (UHC), with a focus on strengthening the public health sector, ensuring equity, and building financial protection for all citizens.. The resolution said that health should be included in fundamental rights of the Constitution and public health expenditure has to be increased to 3 per cent of GDP by 2027 and subsequently hike it to 6 per cent of GDP with resources directed towards infrastructure, medicines, diagnostics and human resources.

The CPI resolution also called for expanding and upgrading rural health infrastructure and strengthen primary healthcare as the backbone of the system. The resolution wanted that privatisation of Health and wellness centres, Primary health centres, district hospitals and medical colleges should be abandoned and out of pocket expenditure be reduced to below 10% by 2030 through free essential services, wider social health insurance, and removal of user fees.

Further, the centre should bridge the urban-rural divide by ensuring fair distribution of doctors, nurses, specialists and health care employees, while expanding training and incentives for work in underserved areas.

The CPI resolution demanded stricter regulation of the private sector to ensure quality, affordability, and accountability and promotion of digital health while addressing the digital divide to ensure suitable access.

Apart, medical education should be provided in the state sector and privatization of government medical colleges should be stopped. Starting medical colleges through PPP model should be abandoned.

Medical science and technology should be developed, public funding should be increased for R & D. Research should be encouraged in public sector. Drugs and vaccines should be manufactured in the public sector only. Gender inclusive policies and programmes should be included in all National and State Health Programmes.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Foreign Medical Graduates are not being recognised by the state medical council even though the National Medical Commission has directed to all states to register them. The CPI demanded that these graduates who number about 1400-1500 should be recognised immediately by the AP state medical council.

The CPI declared its commitment to working with people’s movements, governments, and civil society to make UHC a reality, ensuring free, equitable, holistic and quality healthcare for all Indians.

The 25th Congress of the CPI also expressed its serious concerns regarding the recently announced of Goods and Services Tax (GST) 2.0 reforms, which have taken effect from 22nd September 2025.

The Congress resolution highlighted the potential adverse consequences on economic equity, fiscal stability, and the well-being of ordinary citizens, emphasizing that those low-income and middle-income households have to bear a disproportionately heavy burden. It has urged policymakers to reconsider the reforms to prevent further widening of socio- economic inequalities.

Introduced in 2017, India’s GST was hailed as a landmark reform designed to unify the fragmented indirect taxation system, eliminate cascading taxes, and create a unified national market. GST 2.0 seeks to build on these objectives by rationalizing tax slabs, simplifying rates, enhancing compliance mechanisms, and addressing structural inefficiencies. However, despite the intended reforms, critical flaws have emerged, particularly concerning the regressive nature of the tax. Evidence indicates that lower and middle-income households carry a disproportionately high share of the GST burden, as they spend a larger portion of their income on goods and services subject to taxation, said the resolution.

According to the CPI, facts show that the bottom 50% of consumers contribute the majority of GST revenue, with rural households accounting for 31% and urban households 29%. In contrast, the top 20% of earners, including India’s billionaires, contribute far less proportionally, with billionaires contributing only about 3% of total GST collections. This uneven distribution of burden highlights the inherent inequity of a flat-rate consumption tax, which effectively reduces the relative contribution of the wealthy while amplifying the financial pressure on poorer households. GST2.0, by maintaining uniform rates and reducing slabs without compensatory mechanisms, risks deepening these disparities, especially in the absence of stronger direct taxation or targeted relief for vulnerable groups.

The 25th congress of CPI also expressed its profound grief and stands in solidarity with the worst-hit state of Punjab and the millions of people across multiple states enduring unprecedented flooding and natural disasters during the current Kharif season.

The Party recognized that this is not merely a natural phenomenon but a preventable tragedy exacerbated by human failure and policy neglect under the BJP-led Narendra Modi government.

According to the CPI resolution, the scale of devastation is staggering, with over 500 lives lost across Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, and Assam, and tens of thousands of families displaced. The humanitarian crisis continues to deepen, with reports indicating, 1.Widespread destruction of housing, infrastructure, and livelihoods; 2. Massive agricultural losses affecting more than 10 lakh hectares of cropland; 3. Significant livestock deaths, destroying the primary asset base of rural families; and 4. Complete disruption of essential services in many regions.

The CPI emphasized that these events represent a systemic failure in disaster governance, environmental protection, and developmental planning by the BJP regime. We stand united with all affected communities and demand an urgent, comprehensive, and just response from those in power. (IPA Service)