Tikender Singh

THE CITU, DYFI, AIKS and SFI units in Himachal Pradesh were in the forefront of two popular struggles waged in the state against the BJP led government's anti people measures, imposed in the name of economic reforms.

Trying to rid itself of all obligations of a welfare state, the state government has decided to collect huge amounts from the people availing the limited facilities provided by government run hospitals. This measure drew widespread protests from the people of the state, particularly in Shimla.

The other struggle was in the form of a ten day jatha organised jointly by these mass organisations to highlight various issues faced by the people. Compensation because of drought, employment in projects, question of subsidy to the kisans, support price for various agricultural and horticultural products were some of these. Even as CPI(M) and various mass organisations became an eye sore for the BJP government due to these struggles, a series of attacks on CPI(M) leaders were unleashed by the ruling party. Senior leaders including state CITU president Rakesh Singha were ambushed and attacked.

The state government has decided to collect user charges for all facilities being provided by the government - for which it is actually duty bound under the social welfare state concept of the constitution. The intention of the government is to slowly get rid of all the obligations of a welfare state.

Under the garb of enhancing the efficiency of the hospitals the govt has transformed three major hospitals of the state, located in Shimla into "societies". These include the prestigious Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) hospital also called as Snowdon Hospital, Deen Dyal Upadhyay Hospital (DDUH) also known as Ripon Hospital and Kamla Nehru Hospital.

Initially the government has decided to raise the charges of various tests, including the most commonly used x-ray test only marginally as it states, but an increase of Rs 15 to Rs 40 made on each test costs aggregately more than Rs 400 per patient.

The government while raising the charges has also stated that the entire process of new recruitment and governance would be done by the society and also that the financial burden would be borne by it. The implication is clear; the society would be turned into an autonomous institution and then would be sold to private hands. It is going to have a widespread impact on the overall health of the people of the state.

More so as Himachal Pradesh has two full tribal districts and in another district (Chamba) a large section of people are tribal. The tribal districts are largely infested by tuberculosis (TB) disease. In some villages entire population is infected by this disease. Now they will be left to fend for themselves.

As it is the costs of medicine has gone very high. The government spends only a meagre amount on health. The periphery areas are always short of medical and para medical staff. A large number of posts are lying vacant in the health department, which are never going to get filled and with the transformation into societies the posts are going to be abolished altogether.

All this is happening when the government boasts of providing excellent health facilities in the state in comparison to other states. It is in this background that the increase in service charges and formation of societies has witnessed large scale condemnation by the cross-section of the society.

Taking the lead the DYFI organized two protest demonstrations at the IGMC and DDUH Shimla. The CITU and SFI also participated in these protests. Former MLA from Shimla Rakesh Singha, Dr Kashmir Singh state secretary CITU, Tikender Singh Panwar state secretary of DYFI, Manoj Chandel state secretary SFI were among those who addressed the dharna. The speakers lambasted the government for hoodwinking the people of the state and working against the interests of majority of the people.

Later, memoranda were submitted through the Chief Medical Officer and the principal of the college, to the chief minister, demanding withdrawal of the hike in charges and the formation of societies of government hospitals.

The main opposition party in the state, Congress, was initially silent over the developments. It later issued statements only after it saw large scale resentment being channelled and its fear of getting isolated from the masses. The ruling BJP has shamelessly defended the decision accusing "the opposition of adopting double standards on the issue of imposition of user charges on health services."

The defence of the ruling party has been premised on falsehoods and half truths. It says collecting user charges are part of the economic reform programme which is being implemented all over the country, including the Congress ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Obviously unhappy at the CPI(M) and the mass fronts raising the issue, the BJP spokesman spread the oft repeated lie that CPI(M) had been adopting similar measures in West Bengal.

The second major activity took place in the Mandi district. A ten day long jatha organized jointly by the DYFI, CITU, AIKS and SFI brought various issues of the people to the fore. The major issues of compensation because of drought, employment in projects, question of subsidy to the kisans, support price for various agricultural and horticultural products were highlighted.

As the jatha passed through the district more than 40 public meetings were held, live shows of street plays were staged, showing the plight of the people and their resentment because of the anti people policies being implemented by the government. More than twenty-five thousand leaflets were also distributed during the campaign. The jatha culminated into a strong mobilization of the people in Mandi town on June 20. The local press had put the number at ten thousand.

Suneet Chopra the joint secretary of AIAWU, and the CITU state president Rakesh Singha were among those who addressed the rally.

This rally was organized in the background of vigorous attempts of the anti-democratic forces to scuttle the democratic voice in the area.

After consistent intervention and activities, the CPI(M) and various mass orgnaisations have become an eyesore for the BJP government. The ruling party orchestrated a series of attacks on CPI(M) leaders. In one such attack the state president of CITU Rakesh Singha was ambushed along with other CITU leaders and beaten up in Mandi district, during the agitation of Larji hydro-electric project workers recently. In another attack the district president of DYFI, Ravi was attacked in the office at 4 am when he was asleep. The attackers came with their faces covered. These attacks are being perpetrated at the behest of the ruling party as the resentment is mounting because the people are facing multitude of problems arising out of reformist policies. Already two starvation deaths have been reported from the Kangra district of the state, the home district of Shanta Kumar, the union minister of food and civil supplies. The state also saw a wild drought with almost 70 to 80 per cent crop loss.

In such a background this rally was organized in Mandi. The rallyists gathered at the famous Padhal ground and took out a procession through the main bazaar , which culminated into a mass meeting at the Chowk. Later the leaders submitted a memorandum to the chief minister through the district collector.