The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), a class oriented Trade Union Confederation and an affiliate of WFTU, representing more than 7 million Workers, extends international working class solidarity to the CGTP, another WFTU affiliate Trade Union Confederation of Peru which is spearheading their struggle demanding immediate reinstatement of former left leaning President Pedro Castillo and his pro people government.

Pedro Castillo, former President of Peru was ousted by a ‘soft coup’ instituted against him by the rightwing congressmen in Peruvian Parliament; the removal of Pedro Castillo was a sinister ploy of the rightwing pro-imperialist forces in the congress to advance the imperialist interests of US. The CGTP in their nationwide campaign and struggle is mobilizing to rally all the trade unions united to unleash a joint struggle against the US imperialist interventions in Peruvian polity and policy making. Strikingly, soon after the removal of Castillo, US started to send its naval ships to the ports of Peru.

The CGTP correctly believes that the first step would be the defunding and dismissing of notorious US project ‘National Endowment of Democracy’, which functions only to facilitate the strategic geo political interests of US. The NED has a significant amount of money to persuade opportunist’s yellow trade unions to support their imperialist aims.

CITU fully supports the struggles and campaign drive of CGTP to safeguard the sovereignty of their country as well as rights of the working class. CITU demands upon the current Peruvian government to stop indulging in US interests that would only jeopardize the geo political formations and interests of Latin America. While extending solidarity to the CGTP, CITU also calls upon its affiliates and members and also the fraternity of WFTU within the country and abroad to organize solidarity actions.

Issued By
Swadesh DevRoye
National Secretary & Head of International Affairs  

Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) pays respectful homage to the legendary plantation leader Comrade Panu Majumdar who will be remembered long for his contribution towards the working class movement and the people of Tripura. Comrade Panu Majumdar passed away 14th August 2023 midnight at GBP Hospital of Tripura leaving behind his innumerable followers throughout the State. He was 86 at the time of demise.

Comrade Sudhamoy Majumder popularly known as Comrade Panu Majumdar worked among and organised the tea garden workers since 1970. He was a key organiser of Tripura State CITU right from its formation period. He devoted his life to the cause of emancipation of the working class. He was unmarried and spent his entire life with the tea workers.

While organising tea workers in struggle for rights and better livelihoods, he faced numerous challenges. Especially the threat of lock-out and closure always used to haunt the workers. In such an event, the criminal proprietor of the Durgabari Tea Garden turned the garden sick and left it with hundreds of workers to die in a critical condition. Comrade Panu Majumdar brought all the workers of that garden together, gave them guidance and hope and developed it as a cooperative tea garden. With his indomitable spirit, knowledge, hard work, comradely feelings and strong leadership with participatory model, Durgabari was converted as an International Model Cooperative Tea Garden and a sustainably high yielding and profitable one. The cooperative is still now running with excellence and the workers are getting significantly more returns out of it.

Comrade Panu Majumder was a member of All India Plantation Workers Federation. For a long time, he was a member of CITU All India General Council and the Vice President of Tripura CITU State Committee.

Comrade Panu Majumdar had an extraordinary quality to explain intricate things in a simple way. His endeavor and sacrifice gave an alternative to Durgabari and it will remain as a beacon in the history of workers’ participatory cooperative movement in India.

Long Live Comrade Panu Majumdar. Long Live Durgabari.

Issued by
Tapan Sen
General Secretary

 

Hundreds of workers, peasants and agricultural workers throughout the country came out on streets in solidarity with the people of Manipur at the call of Centre of Indian Trade Unions(CITU), All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and All India Agricultural Workers Union  (AIAWU). The joint call was given by CITU, AIKS and AIAWU on 15 July 2023, in solidarity with the people of Manipur demanding restoration of peace, disarmament of the people, facilities in the relief camps, and compensation to the damage to the properties of the people.

Later, the shocking videos of the brutal sexual violence against two Kuki women came in public shaking the conscience of the nation. In many places of the country, the workers, peasants and agricultural workers, women and people in general came out in protest against the sexual violence and rape of the women. Many of our units protested the criminal inaction by the BJP led state and central governments on Manipur issue and the selected silence of the Prime Minister of the country.

On 25 July, solidarity and protest actions were organised in most of the states at state and district headquarters, factory gates, workplaces and villages. Although the call was given by CITU, AIKS and AIAWU, in many states the central and state trade unions joined the programme. In Delhi state joint platform of trade unions organised a protest at Jantar Mantar along with AIKS and AIAWU. Leaders of all trade Unions including INTUC, AITUC, HMS, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU, SEWA, LPF, MEC, ICTU spoke. A R Sindhu, Anurag Saxena, Virender Gaur, Gangeshwar Dutt Sharma(CITU), P Krishnaprasad, P Tyagi (AIKS) , V Sivadsan MP, Vikram Singh (AIAWU) addressed the gathering. A large number of farmers who are in a sit in protest in Greater Noida on their demands also joined the programme.

In almost all the states, the state government employees also joined the programme. A huge rally was held in Mizoram by the joint NGO coordination committee.

Left Class and mass organisations organised organised a march at the gate of Maniur Assembly today. Rally was addressed by AIKS leader Sarat Salam and CITU leader Kshetrimayum Santa. Around 300 people participated. They demanded restoration of peace and facilities in relief camps.

Programmes were held in AP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, HP, Jharrkhand, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajastahn, Tamil Nadu, Telengana, UP, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. In many places the people bunt the effigies of the central and state governments.

The protesters expressed their anger by the insensitive and sectarian reaction of the Prime Minister and other ministers and BJP leaders in such an hour of crisis of Manipuri people and their unity and the kind of barbarity and violence against women. Instead of rising to the occasion and call for unity, the BJP leaders including the Prime Minister is on blame game on timings of exposure etc which is condemnable. The protesters warned the people to be prepared to protect the unity among various sections, as the BJP- RSS combine will resort to such divisive and disastrous moves anywhere and everywhere to retain and capture political power, with the help of their corporate masters.

The response by the working class, agricultural workers and the peasantry and the people in general to the call for solidarity has once again proven that the unity of the basic classes and the people only can fight the communal and divisive forces and bring peace and amity in Manipur as well as other parts of the country.   

 Issued by         

Tapan Sen                                  Vijoo Krishnan                                  B Venkat

General Secretary                     General Secretary                             General Secretary

   CITU                                         AIKS                                                   AIAWU

 

The Construction Workers Federation of India (CWFI) deeply mourns and expresses its condolences to the bereaved families of 17 construction workers who were killed after a girder machine collapsed on them during the third phase of construction on the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Thane district in the wee hours of August 1, 2023. The workers who died were mostly migrant workers.

The tragic incident once again exposed the disastrous consequence of handing over the public infrastructure management, both at state and the centre, to private corporate contractor that too on liberal deregulated formats from the state-run public works departments with devastating implications of mass human loss. A Swiss company was given the outsourcing contract by Maharashtra State road Development Corporation.  It is also to be noted that, so far as many as 88 people have lost their lives in road accidents in last six months on the Samruddhi Expressway.

While mourning and condoling the tragic loss of lives, CWFI also demands a thorough high level judicial probe into the whole matter to investigate that dreadful incident and fixing accountability. Only arresting a few contract company’s officials would merely cover up the inhuman negligence and callousness of the government of the day. CWFI demands upon the Governments at Centre and state for adequate compensations and jobs to families of the diseased. CWFI once again reiterates its demand to stop privatisation in the name of contract for building, repair and maintenance and operation of public infrastructure. CWFI also demands public investments and state intervention in strengthening the public works departments.

Issued By,
P JOSEPH,
GENERAL SECRETARY

Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) pays respectful homage to Comrade Shivshankar Singh, veteran trade union leader from Bihar who passed away on 25^th June 2023 after prolonged illness. He was 94.

After studies, Comrade Shivshankar Singh joined the government service in Bihar and joined the state government employees’ movement. He was one of the prominent leaders of the Non-Gazatted Employees Federation, Bihar. After retirement he dedicated his life organising the Beedi workers at his native place, Jamui. He was instrumental in building a very strong union of Beedi workers in Bihar of which he served as the General Secretary for a long period. He was also one of the office bearers of All India Beedi Workers’ Federation (CITU). Presently he was the Vice President of Bihar state committee of CITU.

 CITU expresses profound grief at his demise and conveys condolences to his family and comrades.

Issued by
Tapan Sen
General Secretary

CITU is extremely grieved at the passing away of Comrade P Lalaji Babu, former General Secretary and then President of All India Plantation Workers’ Federation, at Kerala on 24^th May 2022 morning. He was 75 years old.

Comrade Lalaji Babu was born in 1948 in Chengannur and spent his most vibrant period of life in Kollam. He was a valiant leader of plantation workers’ struggle for last four decades. He was an elected member of CITU Working Committee. During the Emergency period, he spent six months in jail. He performed with dignity as a Member of Rubber Board, Member of Board of Oil Palm India Limited, President of Pathanapuram Taluk Agricultural Rural Development Bank, President of Co-operative Bank and many more important institutions and always has fought to protect the interest of working class and the people.

He was elected as the President of All India Plantation Workers’ Federation in the Conference held at Agartala Tripura in 2013 and was relieved from the said responsibility in the Darjeeling Conference of AIPWF in the month of December 2022 for his serious illness.  While returning back from the Working Committee meeting of the Federation held at Delhi in 2022, he had a massive heart attack and couldn’t recover totally since then.

CITU mourns the death of Comrade P Lalaji Babu, conveys its heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members and comrades and submits homage of respect to his memory and signal contributions to the cause of Plantation Workers. Red Salute, Comrade P Lalaji Babu.  

(Tapan Sen)
General Secretary

About a lakh of workers, peasants and agricultural workers crowded the Ramlila Grounds in Delhi today to participate in the Mazdoor-Kisan Sangharsh Rally called by (CITU) Centre of Indian Trade Unions, (AIKS) All India Kisan Sabha and (AIAWU) All India Agriculture Workers Union. Arriving from different States of the country, came to voice their demand for an end to the ongoing assault on their means of livelihood and for policies that allow access to education, healthcare and a dignified life for them and their children. The united action of the workers and peasants expressed determined protest against the hatred and anger against the BJP government in destroying the wealth of the nation and to distract attention from the grave economic crisis engulfing the lives of the working people. Enthused by the success of the yearlong farmers' struggle and of the many recent victories against anti-people policies, people had made their way to Delhi from far and wide: Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, Himachal Pradesh, J & K, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Odissa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat. A six-month-long campaign in urban and rural districts of the country to mobilise people culminated in this massive assembly. Thousands of women workers and peasants were also part of the protest. The massive rally was addressed by the leaders of the three organisations, K. Hemalata & Tapan Sen (President & General Secretary, CITU), Ashok Dhawale & Vijoo Krishnan (President & General Secretary, AIKS), A. Vijayaraghavan & B. Venkat (President & General Secretary, AIAWU). Leaders of 12 sectoral federations affiliated to CITU, organisations of employees of state and central governments, bank, insurance and BSNL, AISGEF, CCGEU also addressed the rally. They warned the government that the rally was an indication of the surging anger of the working people of this country against the disregard of their basic needs while showering benefits on the big corporate. The deliberate destruction of the wealth, selling large public sector establishments developed over decades at throwaway prices to private owners, depriving workers and peasants of their basic rights, inviting foreign capital to capture Indian agriculture and dairy sectors, indulging corrupt money swindlers in looting peoples’ hard-earned money, all this is being increasingly promoted by the present Govt. It is against such dangers and to save the country from capture by a few wealthy business cartels that workers and peasants have joined hands to launch an incessant and intensified movement throughout the country. The Rally was organised by a joint preparatory committee chaired by eminent Economist Prabhat Patnaik. A.R. Sindhu Convener, Joint Preparatory Committee

 ‘Legally guaranteed minimum support price at C2+50%’ as recommended by the M S Swaminathan chaired National Commission for Farmers has become a household demand of the peasantry across the country today-thanks to the prolonged and massive united struggles of the peasantry during the last two and a half decades especially in the context of unending indebtedness and peasant suicide. Thus, the united peasant movement has succeeded to bring the agrarian question at all India level.  No political party can ignore the agrarian crisis now without facing the brunt of peasant anger.

In the neo-liberal period of reforms, on the one side, the cost of agricultural production is sky rocketing with unbridled rise in the price of all inputs including seed, fertilizer, electricity, diesel, water, transportation and land rent. On the other side, the price of agricultural produces across the crops in general does not meet the cost of production; thus making farming a loss-making occupation. This along with inflation and escalating cost of living are the reason for the current acute agrarian crisis and the pauperization of the peasantry.

The peasant households - especially the small and middle peasants and the agricultural workers - are pushed to perpetual indebtedness and also to suicide across the country. Thus losing cattle and agricultural land, they are forced to join the rank of migrant workers whose number is swelling day by day. As per the latest data, the population of the migrant workers has crossed 23 crore- has become the single largest size section in India due to the acute agrarian crisis. This phenomenon shall be conceived in the perspective of pauperization of the peasantry under capitalism that is explained well by Marx and Engels in Communist Manifesto. The pauperization has become an issue of life and death for the peasantry, across India.

The genesis of the agrarian crisis can be traced back to the colonial period, with the "ascendancy of imperialism". The big bourgeois and big landlord classes that collaborated with imperialism had emerged as the ruling class of India. This ruling class alliance failed to carry forward agrarian reforms in a meaningful way. With the collapse of the dirigisme regime and introduction of neoliberal policies, the clout of the International Finance Capital (IFC) became hegemonic and domestic Monopoly Capital (MC) are increasingly getting integrated with it. The IFC-MC combine has unleashed a virulent primitive accumulation in agriculture.

Even after 75^th years of political independence, still the land concentration does exist in different degrees across the country. As per the 5^th National Family Health Surveys (NFHS), in 2019-21, the households with more than 30 hectares of land -only 0.3% of rural households- accounted for over 26% of land.  The top 20% households owned 82% of the agricultural land while the bottom 47.8%of rural households did not own any agricultural land. The land concentration as well as the landlessness are increasing in the context of the neo-liberal reforms and reverse land reforms – the small and middle land owners losing land and the rich and capitalist classes accrue more land- is happening in the countryside. Along with that, the acquisition of land for large industrial, commercial and infrastructure projects also force increasing landlessness among the small and middle landholders.

The denial of remunerative prices to the peasantry serves the interests of the finance capital, the large trader and industrial classes and their intermediaries especially in the agro based industrial and trade sectors. The corporate forces are destined to procure agricultural produce at the cheapest available rate as the raw material for industrial processing and related commercial food and consumer commodity trade. This is the major contradiction between the peasantry and the corporate forces under capitalism.

Studies conducted across the world reveal that only 10% or below of the value of the consumer commodities produced using the primary farm produces reach back to the primary producers through the procurement price. The surplus thus created is shared among the international finance capital, large-scale processors, their intermediaries, transporters, retail traders and also as tax to the governments and as advertisement income to the corporate media houses. Hence the enemy classes of the peasantry that constitutes the network for expropriation of the surplus have common interest in denying the remunerative price to the peasantry.

Let us consider few case studies. The coffee is the second most profitable commodity traded in the global market after crude oil. As part of the neo-liberal reforms introduced in India in 1991, the Coffee Board left the procurement market in 1997, thus opening the door wide to the private traders including multinational companies. The average price in the procurement operation under the coffee board was Rs. 60/ kg for green beans. This price increased to the range of Rs.90- 120/kg when the private companies entered the market thus making the coffee farmers happy as they thought the neo-liberal reforms brought them prosperity. However, within two years, by 1999, the price of one kilogram coffee green beans started declining drastically and stagnated at Rs. 24/kg which remained so till 2007. The annual loss suffered by coffee farmers in the district Wayanad- in the coffee belt region alone was of around Rs.600 crore.

The coffee farmers faced severe miseries and got trapped in insurmountable debts, which ignited a spate of peasant suicides in Wayanad – more than 3000- in the period of 1999-2007. On the other side the coffee crisis became a boon to the corporate forces. When the price of green bean coffee crashed to Rs 24/kg, the price of instant coffee powder increased to the range of Rs. 900-1400/kg comparing to the equivalent price of Rs.450-900/kg in 1997-99 period. Thus, the coffee crisis was an opportunity for windfall gain and profiteering for the corporate forces. The reason is the IFC-MC combine wields monopoly ownership on the value addition sectors- the processing industry and the branded consumer market-of specialty coffee across the world. The coffee farmers have no option but to sell their produce to the industrial processors through their intermediaries at the price decided by the market that is controlled by the IFC-MC combine. 

The IFC-MC combine influences the price of the raw material in each and every sector.Let us consider the plight of paddy farmers. The Union Government led by NDA has not agreed to provide MSP as recommended by the National Framers Commission headed by M S Swaminathan at C2+50% formula. Moreover, the MSP of Rs.2040 per quintal for the year 2022-23 as announced by the Government is not ensured to all the paddy farmers across the country since there is no system for procurement. For example, the farmers in the Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, eastern part of Uttar Pradesh are forced to sell their paddy at the range of Rs. 800- 1200 per quintal. Considering an average production of only 12 quintals per acre the total loss is to the tune of Rs.9600-14400 per acre. The LDF Government in Kerala has been providing the highest rate for paddy procurement in India at Rs.2820 per quintal. Comparing to the rate of Kerala the loss accrued by the farmers in Jharkhand-Bihar-West Bengal- Easter UP region is in the tune of Rs.19200 – 24000 per acre. When the farmers are paid Rs.8-12 per kg for paddy, the rice is sold in the open market in the range of Rs.28 to 60 per kg as per the grading and quality- shows how the paddy farmers are looted by the market forces.

The potato farmers are suffering very severe crisis and as part of protest, farmers have heaped potato on the roads in Maharashtra, Bihar and West Bengal. The price has come down to Rs.2-6 per kg for potato while in southern states, the whole sale commodity price is Rs. 32 per kg and the retail price is in the tune of Rs.38-42 per kg.  See the huge profit amassed by the capitalist classes. The onion farmers in Maharashtra gets Rs. 2 to Rs. 4 per kg while the commodity wholesale price of onion is Rs. 50 and retail price range from Rs.58 to Rs.64. Recently news agency PTI reported an onion framer from Maharashtra Solapur get Rs.2.49 as profit after selling 512 kg of onion.  On concrete analysis of each crop, we shall see, this is the same plight for all crops whether it is milk, wheat, sugar cane, coconut, rubber, tea, cotton or vegetables and fruits.

The IFC-MC combine and its cronies including Adani, Ambani and TATA control the agricultural produce trade,expropriate as well as influence the peasantry to shift to cash crop production and thus endanger the food security of the people. The steepreduction in the agriculture income along with unbridled inflation ruins the purchasing capacity of the toiling masses and pushes them towards poverty and starvation.  81.4 crore people - 67% of the population – depends on free ration in India and the country has fallen from 56^th rank in 2014 to 107^th rank in 2021 in the Global Poverty Index under the eight years of ModiRule indicates the degree of pauperisation of the people and expropriation by the corporate forces.

The BJP and RSS combine has capitulated the Indian economy for the profiteering of the finance capital and its cronies and facilitating brutal exploitation of the peasantry and the working class by denying them legally guaranteed minimum support price and minimum wage. The Modi Government stands for the Corporatisation of Agriculture and push the people towards utter poverty, price rise, unemployment, landlessness, pauperization and endless miseries. RSS-BJP combine which is fully surrendered to the International Finance Capital and monopoly capitalist forces are politically introducing this Corporatisation of Indian economy as making of “Hindu Rashtra” in order to promote hatred and divide the people on religious lines and facilitate further corporate expropriation of the peasantry and the working class. Only the worker-peasant alliance can fight this divisive politics and save democracy, federalism and secularism. For that we shall advance the struggle and up to the village / town level and rally the producing classes on the fight for attaining their right to live a life free from corporate exploitation.

It is possible to end the corporatisation of agriculture through alternative polices. Crop wise mobilization and advancing towards establishment of agro processing industries -for both inputs and outputs- and marketing facilities under the collective ownership of peasant social co-operatives are essential tasks ahead of the peasantry in this regard.The Union Government and the State Governments shall be enforced to promote the peasantry to develop crop wise producer cooperatives to gather collective strength and tactically   advance towards modernization of petty production in to large scale production without which the petty producers cannot sustain and overcome the corporate exploitation and the resultant pauperization, being intensified day by day.  This helps to take the advantage of scale of production by facilitating input supply, collective cultivation, procurement, storage and wear housing, processing, value addition, marketing and research and development and ultimately sharing of the surplus with the rationale of ensuring not below than 30% of the value of the consumer commodities as Fair Remunerative Price-FRP- to the primary producers. The Union Government and state governments shall make enactment for guaranteed MSP based on the principle of surplus sharing. Only with such Left and Democratic alternative policies we can overcome the acute agrarian crisis being intensified due to the neo-liberal reforms.

 This is the context that gives supreme political relevance to the combined combat by the worker-peasant alliance across the country and its epitome- the ever-largest Mazdoor-Kisan Sangharsh Rally in independent India scheduled on 5^th April 2023 at New Delhi. The first Mazdoor-Kisan Sangharsh Rally on 5^th September 2018 had encouraged the peasantry and the working class to come up and build extensive unity. The emergence of Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the active role of the joint platform of trade unions in support of the year long farmers struggle at the borders of Delhi forced the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tender public apology and repeal the 3 pro-corporate Farm Acts.

Enough is enough. There cannot be any further expropriation of the peasantry. We shall proceed to build a new India that belongs to the people. The 5^th April 2023 Rally will declare enduring struggles to end the expropriation of the peasants and workers by the corporate forces, facilitate alternative development path for the toiling people and advance towards a new India free from agrarian distress, hunger, unemployment, inequality, violence, hatred, patriarchy and authoritarianism.

Legally Guaranteed MSP with Assured Procurement Is Our Right - We shall achieve that!

Come and Join Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally en masse!!

Mazdoor-Kisan Adhikar Mahadhiveshan

National Convention on the Rights of Workers and Peasants

5^thSeptember 2022, Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi

 

Declaration

We the workers, peasants and agricultural workers of India, gathered in this national convention at the call of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions(CITU), All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS)and All India Agricultural Workers’ Union(AIAWU), on the fourth anniversary of the historic Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally held on 5^th September 2018, declare our resolve to strengthen our united struggle to protect the interests of the workers, peasants and agricultural workers, who through their labour produce the wealth of our country.

Representing the toiling people across our country, which has just completed 75 years of Independence, we reiterate our commitment to continue the struggle to realise the vision cherished by our earlier generations who sacrificed their everything in the freedom struggle - for an India free from hunger, poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, a secular, democratic, socialist republic in which all our people will enjoy the fundamental rights and directive principles enshrined in our Constitution.

We note with anguish that the present Modi-led BJP regime controlled by the RSS is destroying whatever we, the people have built brick by brick through our labour and whatever we haveachieved through our struggles and sacrifices, during the last 75 years. It is trampling underfoot the dream of our freedom fighters, of an India free, not only from British colonialism, but all forms of oppression and discrimination onthe basis of their class, caste, creed, religion or gender, of a nation where its people can live with freedom and dignity. Its actualpractice over the last eight years of its rule makes its blitzkrieg about ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ sounds hollow.

Our economy, our hard acquired food security and manufacturing capacities, our democratic, secular and federal political system, our Constitutional rights, Parliamentary norms and practices are all under serious attack.

The economy was in crisis and people were in distress even before Covid 19 struck. The manner, in which the Modi government handled the pandemic, worsened both. More than one lakh farmers committed suicide in the last 8 years. The increase in suicide by daily wagers, from 32000 in 2019 to 38000 in 2020 and more than 42000 in 2021, is the worst manifestation of the overall crisis. As per National Crime Records Bureau report that out of the total 164033 suicides in 2021, one in four, were that of daily wagers.  The agrarian crisis and lack of employment in rural areas and the precarious work and low incomes in urban centres are creating such a dangerous situation.

Prices are increasing, wages are declining. The share of wages in the net value added is among the lowest levels. Peasants do not get remunerative prices. Agriculture is becoming unsustainable for small and middle peasants. Agricultural work is drastically reduced in the rural areas. No decent employment is generated in the urban areas. Unemployment and job losses are increasing by leaps and bounds. Working conditions are deteriorating. Violence against women, dalits, adivasis, and minorities has reached unprecedented levels.

Prices of essential commodities are continuously rising. Prices are made to rise by the Modi government’s discriminatory taxation and other policies, only to benefit the big corporate and business houses and traders. Prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and other fuels are increased almost on daily basis by the present taxation regime which is having a cascading impact on the prices of all other commodities, public transport and other services.

On top of this comes the latest round of unprecedented burdens through the GST hikes on all essential commodities such as pre-packaged rice, wheat, milk and on a host of other items of daily use. The range of items on which GST has been increased includes crematorium charges, hospital rooms, writing ink etc. People have to pay 18 per cent GST on bank cheques even to withdraw one’s own savings from their bank. At the same time, GST on luxury items has been lowered.

According to aCentre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report, unemployment among youth in the 20-24 years age group is a staggering 42%. Labour Participation Rate has dropped to an all-time low of 38.8%. Rural women are the worst affected. Their work participation rate has fallen to a historic low of below 10%. Lakhs of micro, small and medium enterprises have closed, resulting in the loss of crores of jobs. Permanent jobs are vanishing. Precarious jobs are increasing. Casualisation and contractorisation of employment is getting legal sanctity under the Modi regime.

While the demand for work under MGNREGA increased, the government reduced allocations for it. Wages for work done to the tune of Rs 1498 crore are pending for several months in almost all the states. According to the official figures 1.47crore job seekers (around 20% of the total) were refused work. 

The four labour codes passed by the Modi Government are meant to do away with whatever has been achieved by the working class through over a century of struggles, including an eight hour workday, minimum wages, social security and most important of all, the right to organise and collective bargaining.Though the government could not notify the labour codes for implementation till now, it is determined to do so at the earliest.

Hunger in the country has reached shocking levels. India ranks 101 among the 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index of 2021. But the government is reducing expenditure on schemes like ICDS and Mid-day Meals and withdrawing from the basic survival entitlements of the people.

All productive assets, the nation’s wealth – public sector undertakings, financial institutions, mines, defence production units, major ports, telecom towers, oil and natural gas pipelines, railways, highways, airports and airlines, electricity, steel, postal services - are being handed over to the big private corporates, domestic and foreign, through reckless privatisation. The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) is aimed at handing over our infrastructure built with public funds to the private corporates virtually free of cost, for making massive profits.

This will not only increase the burden on the people, but will also take away the constitutional right of reservation in government jobs for Dalits, tribals, OBCs and other downtrodden sections of society.Through mass scale contractorisation and outsourcing of work in most of the government departments and administration, the entire governance system is being planned to be privatized. The Agnipath scheme is meant to contractorise the defence services and also to get a private army for the communal forces.

At the same time this government has been extending bonanzas to the big monopoly companies, Ambani, Adani and the likes, by continuously lowering the corporate tax rates, abolishing wealth tax, declaring moratorium on payment of charges/taxes, on debt repayments etc. The Super Rich have amassed wealth even during the pandemic. In an obscene display of inequalities in our country, the richest 1% corner more than 70% of the GDP and lowest 50% of people have less than 10%. The central government has written off loans worth a whopping Rs 10.72 lakh crore to its crony corporates in the last seven years.

In the background of the growing world capitalist crisis and the imperialist wars, the situation is going to further worsen.

This convention salutes the lakhs of peasants of our country who heroically fought for over a year against the three pro-corporate, anti-farmer and anti-people farm laws and compelled the Modi government to repeal them. This convention appreciates the solidarity and wholehearted support extended by the working class of our country to this historic struggle.

This convention strongly condemns the Modi government for reneging on its assurances to the peasants, on legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, not going ahead with the Electricity Amendment Bill without consulting with them,withdrawal of cases and other issues.

Contrary to its assurance, the government has introduced the Electricity Amendment Bill to privatise electricity in the Parliament, although due to pressure it had to be sent to the Parliamentary Standing committee.

The farm laws, the labour codes, the electricity bill, the privatisation spree are all part of the neoliberal policies to which the Modi government is committed. In its aggressive pursuit of these policies for the benefit of the big corporate and monopoly companies, domestic as well as foreign, the Modi government is resorting to ruthless suppression of any opposition to these policies.

Fundamental and basic human and democratic rights are attacked. The Constitution is violated. Parliamentary norms and practices are flouted. Laws are bypassed. Journalists bringing the facts to light, intellectuals, human rights activists are arrested and jailed without bail. Dissent is sought to be ‘bulldozed’. The majoritarian communal forces seek to dictate people’s lives – the dress they wear, the food they eat, people whom they can be friends with, whom they can or cannot marry. This in turn is leading to the rise in minority fundamentalism. Both these hues of communalism are being propagated to disrupt the class unity and have disastrous impact on the lives of the people and on social harmony.

This convention warns the toiling people of our country and all progressive sections of society against falling prey to these machinations of the ruling classes and their representative in power today, the BJP guided by the fascistic RSS.

This convention congratulates the workers, peasants and agricultural workers and other sections of the people who have been displaying exemplary courage in resisting and fighting these disastrous neo-liberal policies from their independent as well as joint platforms. The historic farmers’ struggle under the banner of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the countrywide general strike on 26^th November 2020 and again on 28-29^th March 2022 under the banner of the joint trade union platform, the various sectoral struggles of the coal, port and dock, defence, bank, insurance, postal, telecom, electricity, transport, scheme workers and other sections of workers and the struggles of the farmers and agricultural workers in different states on the issues of price, wage, land, MGNREGA work, government procurement, etc show the determination of our people to fight for their rights.

Not only the workers, peasants and agricultural workers; the youth, students, women and many other sections are today fighting for jobs, for the right to food, education, health, housing, and social justice, protection of democratic rights and the secular character of our nation. These united struggles show the potential to carry forward the anti-imperialist, anti-corporate struggle to fulfil the dreams of those who fought for our country’s independence, to realise their vision of a free India.

This convention asserts that the struggle today is not only for our immediate demands of livelihood and living and working conditions. It is also to save the country’s economy, to save the secular democratic character of our society from this communal and authoritarian BJP-RSS regime. It is to save our Constitution from the onslaught of the ‘Hindutva’ forces masquerading as saviours of Hindus. As Savarkar who had first used the term ‘Hindutva’ himself explained, it is a political construct and has nothing to do with religion. It was these communal forces like the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha that refused to participate in our freedom struggle, and along with the Muslim League facilitated the British colonialists’ ‘Divide and Rule’ policy by raising the Two Nation theory based on religion. The struggle today is to Save the Nation and to Save the People from these anti-people and anti-national policies and forces.

Hence, this convention calls upon the workers, peasants and agricultural workers all over the country to rise unitedly to fight for the following demands and to work tirelessly for a defeat of the neo-liberal, communal and authoritarian regime of the BJP-RSS.

Demands

• Ensure Minimum wages @Rs26,000 pm and Pension @Rs10,000 to all workers; No contractorisation of work; Scrap Agnipath Scheme
• Legally ensure MSP @ C2+50%for all farm produce with guaranteed procurement
• One time loan waiver by the central government to all poor and middle peasants and agricultural workers; pension to all of them above 60 years
• Scrapping of four Labour Codes and Electricity Amendment Bill 2022
• Job security and guarantee for all; Expand MGNREGA and increase workdays to 200 with minimum wages @Rs600 per day; Pay all pending wages; Enact a National Urban Employment Guarantee Act
• Stop Privatisation of PSUs and Public Services; Scrap National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)
• Arrest Price Rise, Withdraw GST on food items and essentials; Reduce the central excise duty on petrol/diesel/kerosene/cooking gas substantially;
• Universalise the Public Distribution System (PDS) and expand its scope to include 14 essential items; Ensure food and income support to all Non tax payer families
• Stringent implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA); withdraw the amendments to Forest (Conservation) Act and Rules that allow the union government to permit clearance of a forest without even informing the residents.
• Stop repression of the marginalised sections and ensure social justice
• Ensure universal and quality Health and Education for all; Scrap New Education Policy (NEP) 2020
• Ensure Housing to all
• Tax the Super Rich; Enhance Corporate Tax; Introduce Wealth Tax

Programme of Action

To take these demands to the workers, peasants and agricultural workers across the country, this convention calls upon all the units, up to the lowest level, of all the three organisations to take up an intensive and extensive campaign comprising:

• Joint meetings of the state level office bearers of the three organisations to plan the campaign by the end of October 2022
• District level joint meetings of the office bearers of the three organisations by the end of November–December 2022
• State level joint conventions in January 2023
• Massive campaign through distribution of leaflets, posters, wall writing, group meetings, jathas, processions etc on the issues and demands including local demands during the next four months, aiming to reach the unreached, as planned in the state and district joint meetings
• District/local level conventions in February 2023
• Jathas to take the message of this convention to all nooks and corners of the country
• Massive ‘Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally 2.0’ during the 2023 budget session of Parliament

This convention also calls upon all progressive, democratic and patriotic people of our country to extend support and solidarity to this nation-wide campaign and programmes, to Save the Nation and Save the People!

CITU                        AIKS                        AIAWU