The excerpts of the press statement issued by CITU, AIKS & AIAWU are given below:
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and All India Agricultural Workers’ Union (AIAWU) have decided to conduct a joint countrywide campaign and joint actions against the anti worker, anti farmer, anti people and anti national policies of the Modi led BJP government.
The Modi led BJP government which has been conducting a high decibel campaign on AzadikaAmritMahotsav, is in practice aggressively pursuing policies that negate the aspirations and dreams of the lakhs of toiling people, the workers, peasants and agricultural workers and other sections of people who have sacrificed all that they had including their lives in the Independence struggle against British colonialism.
Unprecedented increase in inequalities
Under the present Modi regime, the conditions of the workers, peasants, agricultural workers, artisans and all sections of toiling people have been continuously deteriorating. It has utilised the Covid pandemic as an opportunity to put more burdens on the people rather than take measures to protect their health, lives and livelihoods. Instead of providing any relief to the people it has utilised public money to provide incentives and concessions to the big corporates including foreign monopoly companies and helped them amass huge wealth. Its policies have led to the unprecedented increase in inequalities of wealth and incomes.
Loss of crores of jobs
Prices of all essential commodities including agricultural inputs have increased. Real wages of the workers have come down. Agriculture has become unviable for the farmers particularly for the poor farmers. Workdays in rural areas have declined. While the demand for MGNREGA work has increased, the government has reduced allocations for the scheme. Wages for work done are pending for several months in almost all the states. Unemployment has reached alarming levels. Lakhs of micro, small and medium enterprises have closed resulting in the loss of crores of jobs.
Privatisation spree
Though the Modi government had to repeal the three anti farmer Farm Laws under compulsion, it has not taken any concrete measures to implement its assurances related to the legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops and other issues. Contrary to its assurance it is pursuing with its plan to introduce the Electricity Amendment Bill to privatise electricity. It is going ahead with its plans to implement the labour codes. It continues with its privatisation spree, now in a new avatar – the National Asset Monetisation Pipeline and establishment of the National Land Monetisation Corporation.
Disastrous impact of communalism
The majority communal forces are increasingly seeking to dictate people’s lives including their dress, food, choice of marriage etc. This in turn has led to the rise of minority fundamentalist forces. Both these hues of communalism have disastrous impact on the lives of the people, their unity and social harmony.
It is in this context that CITU, AIKS and AIAWU decided to conduct joint campaigns and action programme to develop a strong countrywide resistance against neoliberal policies as well as communal divisive agenda of the RSS guided Modi led BJP government.
Joint campaign
The joint campaign will focus on the major common demands of workers, peasants and agricultural workers, including curtailment of price rise, employment, health for all, housing, free education, MSP and assured government procurement, loan waiver for small farmers, stopping of privatisation including the National Monetisation Pipeline, scrapping of labour codes. The campaign will call upon all sections of people to uphold their unity and emphatically defeat the communal divisive forces of all hues and colours.
The CITU and AIKS have decided to extend solidarity to the joint action of the agricultural workers’ unions in the country on their demands for land, wages and work under MGNREGA etc on 1st August 2022.
CITU, AIKS and AIAWU will jointly conduct a fortnight long campaign from 1st August 2022 on the above demands reaching to the workers, peasants and agricultural workers up to the grass root level, in the remote corners of the country. Through distribution of leaflets, meetings and other forms they will highlight the role of the workers, peasants and other sections of the toiling people in our Independence struggle and their vision for Independent India and expose the servile attitude of the RSS and its betrayal of our people’s struggle against British colonialism. This campaign will culminate in massive joint mobilisations and vigil programmes at district headquarters on 14th August evening and hoisting of national flag on the occasion of 75th anniversary of country’s independence.
The three organisations will mobilise people and conduct demonstrations at district headquarters on 8th August 2022 to commemorate the ‘Quit India’ Day
As a follow up to this campaign, CITU, AIKS and AIAWU will conduct a joint national convention at Talkatora Stadium in the national capital Delhi on 5th September to chalk out the future campaign and action programmes
I wish the struggle a grand success