People's Democracy

THE Jharkhand state units of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Marxist Coordination Committee and Forward Bloc have called upon the people of the state to extend full support to the proposed strike on April 16 and make it successful. It will be noted that the central public sector employees, state government employees, bank and insurance employees and the workers of some other sectors have decided to go on an all-India strike on April 16. The action is meant to register protest against the ongoing disinvestment, privatisation and dismantling of public sector units, against the moves to kill our economic self-reliance and against the proposed anti-worker labour law legislation.

It is a notable fact that, apart from the workers and employees, 60 per cent of the populations of Jharkhand are dependent on the economic activities of the central public sector undertakings. These people include the rural poor, other toiling masses and traders. Now, due to the anti-public sector, anti-people economic and industrial policies of the central government, the state’s economy and the people of Jharkhand are getting adversely affected. The workers are losing jobs and there is a drastic reduction of job opportunities for the unemployed youths in the state.

The aforesaid five Left parties have urged upon the peasants, agricultural workers, youth, students, women, professionals, traders and those engaged in the small scale sector and cottage based industries to rise to the occasion and stage a people’s bandh on April 16, throughout the state of Jharkhand. The bandh will seek to press the following issues:

1) Stop to disinvestment of the public sector, reopening of the closed industries and revival of the sick industries. Stop to retrenchment and downsizing of the workers and employees. Moves to save industries and provide job opportunities to the unemployed.

2) Maintenance of the country’s unity. Moves to isolate and defeat the communal forces. Rebuff to the attempts aimed at saffronisation of the police, administration and education. Removal of the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat.

3) Opposition to the draconian and anti-democratic POTA.

4) Stop to price rise, including the rise in the prices of fertilisers, seeds, kerosene, LPG, sugar and other essential commodities.

5) Stop to the large-scale corruption by the ministers and top-level bureaucrats who are looting the state’s resources. An end to the mafia raj. Stop to the rising crime rate in the state of Jharkhand.

6) End to repression on roadside shopkeepers and vendors in Ranchi and other towns by the police and administration. Alternative arrangements for them.

7) Protection to tribal lands from alienation and restoration of the already alienated tribal lands. No change in CNT and SPT Acts in the name of industrialisation and special economic zones.

8) Panchayat elections on party symbols at all levels. Restoration of the rights of gram sabhas. (INN)