People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 14
April 07, 2013
|
Vol. XXXVII
No. 14 April 07, 2013 |
AISGEF
Holds Fourth Women
Employees Convention R Muthusundaram THE
All India State
Government Employees Federation (AISGEF) organised its
fourth national
convention of women employees at Barabati Stadium in INAUGURAL SESSION The
convention commenced
with the flag hoisting by AISGEF chairman R G Karnik,
followed by floral tributes
at the martyrs column. The convention saw the
participation of 285 women
delegates and 50 male observers representing 19 affiliated
organisations in 16
states. After the inaugural song by an Odisha troupe,
reception committee secretary
Nirmal Das delivered the welcome address. The
presidium which
conducted the proceedings consisted of AISGEF chairman R G
Karnik, senior
vice chairman
Sukomal Sen, Asha Kalra
(Rajasthan), P Lalitha Kumari (AP NGO Association), Rechel
(Telangana NGO
Union), Bindu Kumari (Bihar), Savita (Haryana), Asha Jha
(Jharkhand), P D Sridevi
(Kerala), Sheetal Gupte (Maharashtra), Rajalakshmi Jena
(Odisha), B S Prasanna
(Tamilnadu), Ratna Sarkar (Tripura) and Reba Mukherjee
(West Bengal). Ms
Sarithanjali Bohidar, reader
in the R G
Karnik, in his
presidential address, narrated various steps taken by the
AISGEF to bring women
employees into trade union activities. He pointed out that
even though many of the
Supreme Court judgements have given detailed instructions
for the protection of
women employees, the governments at the centre as well as
in various states
have not carried out those instructions adequately. A R
Sindhu, general secretary
of the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and
Helpers, greeted the convention.
She narrated how the central government and various state
governments are
subjecting the working women to severe exploitation. A
large number of women
workers are being employed in several of the central
government schemes, but
they are not treated as workers. Being designated as
volunteers, activists or
social workers, they are not paid wages commensurate to
the work they are doing;
rather very meagre sums are being paid to them in the name
of honorarium. Moreover,
this obnoxious precedent emboldens the private sector to
inhumanly exploit the
women workers. She further insisted that trade unions need
to organise the women
workers not only against their exploitation but also to
fight all sorts of
freely launched and rampant atrocities against women in
their workplaces in
particular and in the society in general. She put it on
record how the CITU is striving
all-out in this direction through the All India
Coordination Committee of
Working Women, while stating that women workers today
account for 26 per cent of
the CITU membership and that women are in the leadership
in many affiliated
unions of the CITU. THRUST OF DISCUSSION B S
Jalaja (Kerala) and
Sutapa Hazra ( In
the convention, 39
women delegates spoke on the various issues that have an
impact on Indian women
in general and the working women in particular. The
deliberations were spirited
and emotional, expressing their anguish against the
present social order which
is the root cause of the discrimination against women.
Many delegates narrated
the activities of the women subcommittees in their states.
The delegates said
the sufferings of the working women in the social,
economical, political and
cultural arenas have are further exacerbated under the
neo-liberal regime. M
Girija, joint secretary
of the South Zone Insurance Employees Association
(affiliated to the All India
Insurance Employees Association), also greeted the
convention. In her speech
she traced the various modes in which harassment is
unleashed against women not
only in the workplaces but in their homes also. Male
chauvinism is prevailing
not only among males; women too are steeped in it. When
women were subjected to
sexual harassment and rape, politicians and religious
fundamentalists try to
accuse the victims themselves. In the era of neo-liberal
globalisation,
consumerism has opened the gates wide for indecent
presentations of women body.
They are out to dilute even the observations of the
International Women’s Day.
Corporate giants have begun to offer discounts and
concessions on the day on
the purchase of articles by women and thereby they are
trying to convert it into
a day of hollow celebrations while ignoring the women’s
and particularly the
working women’s struggles and sacrifices the world over.
The large recruitment of
women workers in the central government schemes and
government departments on temporary,
casual and contract basis is a new type of exploitation of
working women. The
trade unions have to launch relentless struggles for the
regularisation of their
services and for ensuring that adequate, rational and
reasonable salaries are
paid to them. These struggles must have the maximum
possible participation of
men and women workers alike. Women workers’ participation
and involvement in
trade union activities and their entry into the leadership
positions must increased
manifold. For this purpose, trade unions have to chalk out
special programmes. AISGEF
senior vice chairman
Sukomal Sen focussed on the main issues facing women in
general and the working
women in particular. He stressed the need for organising
the women, educating
them and bringing them up to the leadership position. He
explained how
emancipation and empowerment of women could not be
achieved without fighting the
feudal outlook and patriarchal social order and without
imbibing a scientific
temperament. MAJOR ISSUES FOR AGITATION AISGEF
general secretary R
Muthusundaram summed up the discussion. He urged the
affiliate organisations to
convert the women subcommittees into functional
organisations in their respective
states. He pointed out that though the AISGEF
constitutionally reserves one
third of the national level Executive Committee positions
for women members,
their 100 per cent presence in its meetings from certain
states has not yet been
ensured. This issue has to be self-critically reviewed by
the respective state
level affiliates, so as to correct it in future. If due
seriousness is bestowed
on ensuring the viable functioning of women subcommittees
in the states, the participation
of women employees in movements and their number in
leading positions would
definitely increase; thus strengthening the struggles of
the organisation. R
Muthusundaram also exposed
the attitude of the NDA as well as the UPA, saying that
they are very much interested
in the implementation of neo-liberal policies in the
interest of the Indian and
foreign corporates but are least concerned about the
passage of the bill for 33
per cent reservation of seats for women in parliament and
state legislatures.
He explained that people cannot hope to get their rights
out of the benevolence
or mercy of the state power; these need to be snatched
from the unwilling hands
of the government by relentless struggles.
The
convention decided to
incessantly propagate the following major issues among
women employees and
organise them in trade union activities for their
realisation. 1)
Equal status for women
in political, economic, social and trade union arenas,
including property
rights, and their empowerment through their representation
in state
legislatures, parliament and other elected bodies. 2)
No discrimination
between men and women employees in workplaces and in
regard to all service
matters. 3)
Ensuring the safety of
women employees in workplaces and in the society in
general. 4)
Stop to the increasing
sexual violence against women. 5)
Condemnation of the glorification
of barbarous practice of sati and such other
practices that undermines
the women’s position. 6)
Fight against the
ignominious dowry system and other forms of oppression
like female foeticide
and domestic violence. 7)
Fight against commodification
and vulgar presentation of women for commercial purposes
in electronic as well
as print media. 8)
Strong opposition to
child marriages that violate the law of the land; support
to progressive social
reform movements. 9)
Fight against all sorts
of castiest oppression, particularly on dalits, against
superstitious
practices, oppressive religious customs, all sorts of
conservative attitudes,
communal and religious fundamentalist ideologies. 10)
Setting up of crèches
for the children of women employees in all towns and where
clusters of offices
exist. 11)
Construction of separate
clean toilets and restrooms for the women employees. 12)
Fostering of a scientific
temperament and rational outlook among both men and women. 13)
Fight against
globalisation, privatisation, downsizing, casualisation
and contractisation,
high level corruption and skyrocketing price-rise of all
essential commodities,
of which women are the first victims. 14)
Fight against
widespread loot of the country’s wealth by
multinationals, corporate houses and imperialist
aggression. The
convention came to a conclusion
with a vote of thanks and chorus singing of “We shall
Overcome.”
