The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) expresses its profound and heart-wrenching grief at the passing of Comrade Debanjan Chakrabarti, All India Working Committee Member of CITU, a legendary leader of the Indian construction workers’ movement and a relentless warrior for Marxist ideology, who breathed his last today, March 21, 2026, at his residence in Uttarpara, West Bengal. He was an uncompromising soldier of the Indian working class movement who spent his entire life for his class – a great fighter and an ever-smiling personality. With the passing of Comrade Chakrabarti, CITU has lost a frontline leader whose exceptional class commitment profoundly shaped both the construction workers' movement and the broader working class struggle.
Born on August 15, 1952, in Bhadrakali, Hooghly, Comrade Chakrabarti’s revolutionary consciousness was forged through personal tragedy and an unwavering political spirit. His father, the martyr Professor Comrade Satyendra Chandra Chakrabarti, a teacher at Belur Ramakrishna Mission Shilpamandir, was brutally assassinated in his classroom at the age of 47 by Congress-Naxal elements on January 12, 1971, during the era of semi-fascist terror in West Bengal. Educated at Belur High School (Higher Secondary, 1968), Raja Peary Mohan College (B.Sc., 1971), and Calcutta University (B.Com., 1978; B.A., 1981; and a Diploma in German Language, 1974), Comrade Debanjan also earned a Diploma in Trade Union Studies from the WFTU Head Office in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1987. He began his professional career at Rolls Print Packaging Peoples in 1972 before joining Hindustan Steelworks Construction Ltd. (HSCL) in 1974, where he worked until his untimely retirement on July 31, 2001. Having joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on October 19, 1979, he rose to become a member of the Kolkata District Committee in 1997 and has been serving as a District Secretariat member since 2015.
His contribution to the working class movement was monumental and transformative; he served as an All India Office Bearer of CWFI and an All India Working Committee Member of CITU until his death, and was the President of the CITU Kolkata District Committee, having previously served as its General Secretary. As the Founder General Secretary of the Construction Workers Federation of India (CWFI), a position he held for 29 years from 1989 to 2018, he played a historic role in building it into a true all-India federation and making it the largest contingent within CITU. He was a pioneer in shaping the historic Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, 1996, and remained a tireless advocate for its rigorous implementation to ensure dignity for unorganised workers. He was a founding leader and an All India Working Committee Member of the Petroleum and Gas Workers Federation of India (PGWFI) since its inception. He was instrumental in forming National Coordination Committee of private security guards & allied workers union, and he was one of the Co Conveners.
In the international working class movement, he reached the pinnacle of leadership as the General Secretary of the World Federation of Building and Wood Workers (UITBB), having been elected to its Executive Committee in Cyprus (2002), the Secretariat in Brazil (2010), and finally as General Secretary in 2011. He represented the working class in over 24 countries, including Cuba, Australia, South Africa, and Vietnam, and at the 100th Session of the ILO in Geneva. An intellectual revolutionary, he authored numerous essential texts, including Construction Industry in India at Cross Road (1992) and Globalization and Migrant Labour (2008), while remaining a life member of the Indian Society of Labour Economics.
Comrade Debanjan Chakrabarti was a rare comrade whose life was a testament to the highest proletarian virtues. He was a man of absolute, uncompromising honesty and led a life of profound simplicity that remained untouched by the high offices he held. He fought all battles bravely and faced all ups and downs with a big heart. His extraordinary conduct with ordinary workers was his greatest hallmark. He is survived by his wife, SwapnaChakrabarti; his sons, Asstt. Professor Dr. SaptarshiChakrabarti and Asstt. Professor Dr. SamarshiChakrabarti; his daughters-in-law, Deblina and Surasree; and his two grandsons. His family is fully associated with the left and progressive movement.
CITU lowers its red banners in solemn tribute to his memory, whose remarkable contributions fundamentally strengthened the backbone of the Indian working class. His untimely and sudden passing is a profound loss to the movement; yet his life of unwavering sacrifice and solidarity serves as a powerful lesson for future generations. Comrade DebanjanChakrabarti’s legacy remains an undying source of inspiration for the struggle against exploitation.
Comrade Debanjan Chakrabarti Red Salute!
Comrade Debanjan Chakrabarti Amar Rahe!
Yours Sincerely,
Elamaram Kareem
General Secretary.
