Saturday, April 9 2005 17:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Buoyed by a 21 per cent increase in enrolment in its mass organisation and a nine per cent rise in membership, CPM (Communist Party of India) today (Apr 9, 2005) decided to expand its base in the Hindi-speaking States and launch campaigns on issues concerning women and social oppression.

Calling for "more serious efforts" for rapid expansion and recruitment of "quality cadres" in five priority States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and Maharashtra, the party, at its ongoing 18th Congress in New Delhi, felt that "more needs to be done" in these States.

Briefing reporters on the fourth day of the Congress, Polit Bureau member S Ramachandran Pillai said the major task before the party was to give a boost to organisational expansion across the country to effectively meet the emerging political challenges.

He said the party, which took up for discussion the politico-organisational report after unanimously adopting the political resolution last night, identified seven tasks for planned development of the organisation at all levels.

The Congress said efforts must be made to improve the quality of party membership, improve its class and social composition, strengthen functioning of its committees and branches, streamline cadre policy in the States and expand the mass organisations working among various sections of the people, Pillai said.

The party's membership rose from 7,96,073 in 2001 to 8,67,763 in 2004, while that of its mass fronts grew from 4,06,38,003 to 4,91,31,964 during the period, with an average increase of 28 per cent among its students, youth and women's wings.