Thiruvananthapuram: CPM is set to revise the age limit of its state committee members. The move is as part of giving more representation for youth and women. Revisal in the age limit is in tandem with fixing 75 as the upper age limit for the Central Committee members. The matter of fixing age limit for the members of committees from the level of state secretariat to the local committee will be considered at the next state committee meeting.
At present, 80 is the upper age limit for the Politburo and Central Committee. This was fixed prior to the last party congress. However, the Central Committee did not venture to implement the decision as such. Though the veteran leader Ramachandran Pillai has passed the upper age limit, he was asked to continue in the state committee till the new politburo is formed. This formula, as generally agreed upon inside the party, is likely to be continued.
The Central Committee has instructed the state committees to fix the age limit after reviewing the general situation of the party in each unit. The factors considered in this exercise include the number of members and growth of the class organizations and mass outfits, among others. The performance of the members also should be considered while fixing the age limit. If the age ceiling is done conventionally, the organisation may face leadership vacuum, which was cited during a debate held in the Central Committee in this regard. In follow-up of the recommendation, the Committee instructed that active veteran leaders should be exempted from the age limit norms. Accordingly, most of the senior leaders including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will be exempted. The proposal will be implemented in the 2021 party congress.
The leadership is of view that despite directions to increase women’s representation, the same was not honoured as such by class functionaries or, public organisations under the state committees. The Central Committee had recommended raising the representation of women to 25 percent of the total membership.