Joint Call for ‘Mazdoor Sangharsh Rally 2.0’ During Budget Session of Parliament

New Delhi: Amidst the country’s economy and its manufacturing capacities, along with its democratic and federal political system, under “serious attack”, the fight to “Save India” will be jointly waged by workers, peasants and agricultural workers – the three “wealth-producing” classes.

This was the message that came out from a joint national convention-- “Mazdoor-Kisan Adhikar Mahadhiveshan” –by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU), on Monday at New Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium.

The meeting, attended by thousands of delegates from across the country, was addressed by leaders of the three organisations and presidents of multiple employees’ federations in the country.

Addressing the convention, Tapan Sen, general secretary, CITU, said “today’s message” was to  “extend support and solidarity in all possible ways to each others’ independent struggle and building strong direct joint actions”, which must be spread by all the units, up to the lowest level, through extensive campaigns in the coming months.

Tapan Sen of CITU said on Monday that the convention's message must be spread by all the units, up to the lowest level. Image clicked by Ronak Chhabra 

The  three organisations also gave a call to hold a ‘Mazdoor Sangharsh Rally 2.0’ during the 2023 Budget session of Parliament early next year.

Workers, farmers, and agricultural workers led by these organisations, came on the same platform for the first time in September 2018, when a march near Parliament was held to press for a joint charter of demands.

Among the demands that the three organisations pressed on the fourth anniversary of the 2018 march was the withdrawal of the four Labour Codes, legalisation of minimum support prices at C2+50% for all farm produce with guaranteed procurement, minimum wages at Rs 26,000/month, along with the provision of 200 days under the rural employment guarantee scheme.

They also demanded that privatisation of public sector enterprises be stopped and the new military recruitment scheme, Agnipath, be scrapped.

Hannan Mollah, general secretary, AIKS, in his address, said that the Narendra Modi government was “destroying” whatever the people built “brick by brick through their labour” during the last 75 years.

“At the time of Independence, farmers and workers dreamt of a prosperous nation and look how it is now being destroyed through anti-people policies; students dreamt of a good education system, and look how it is being destroyed through NEP (New Education Policy); women dreamt of a safe environment but see how that is not available under the present government,” he said.

B Venkat, general secretary, AIAWU, while addressing the convention, highlighted the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), published earlier last month, which said 5,563 agricultural labourers died by suicide last year – the figure is more than that of farmers for the second consecutive year.

“The distress within the rural economy is acute today with high unemployment levels and major problems like lack of rural development fund and money for MGNREGA (rural employment guarantee scheme) further aggravating the situation,” said Venkat, adding that this is also giving rise to multiple social problems within villages.

Later in the day, in a press statement, the three organisations said that Monday’s convention unanimously decided to conduct extensive joint campaigns from October 2022 to February 2023 at state and district levels across the country.

“This convention asserts that the struggle today is not only for our immediate demands of livelihood and living and working conditions but also to save the country’s economy and the secular democratic character of our society from this communal and authoritarian BJP-RSS regime,” added the press statement.

Several delegates who attended the national convention said that a “united front” fighting against the “pro-corporate, communal” government of the BJP was the “only way to defeat” the latter.

“Prices are rising, and wages are decreasing. Work opportunities are drastically reduced in my area. How long can we expect workers like me to survive under such conditions?” asked Jaskaran Jeet, 42, while speaking to NewsClick.

Jeet, hailing from Punjab’s Jalandhar district, said he is an agricultural worker and will participate in union campaign programmes in the coming months.

Bhupal (who goes by a single name), state secretary, CITU-Telangana, told NewsClick on Monday that exactly when the majority of the country’s population is “burdened”, the Modi government is extending bonanzas to the “big monopoly companies”.

“This shows who the government represents. Therefore, we will jointly expose them,” he said.