People's Democracy

 Students-Youth Convention In Maharashtra

THE Maharashtra state units of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, Students Federation of India, All India Students Federation and All India Youth Federation have decided to launch a united movement, and formed a Maharashtra Yuva Vidyarthi Sangharsh Samiti for the purpose. As a part of this movement, these organisations held a students-youth convention at Amravati on August 22, that called for statewide demonstrations at collectorate and taluka offices on September 15. The day is to be observed as “Education For All And Jobs For All” Day.

Speaking on the occasion, DYFI general secretary Tapas Sinha sharply criticised the Vajpayee government’s economic policies and communal drive. Quoting Vajpayee’s speech from the Red Fort on August 15, in which the prime minister said “education will be for all” and that “kisan is the heart of India,” Sinha recalled that Jawaharlal Nehru had made similar promises on August 15, 1947. But the last 56 years have witnessed a rise in the absolute number of illiterates. Education is being commercialised, job creation rate is coming down and now small farmers are committing suicide.

During his election campaign in 1999, Vajpayee had promised one crore jobs every year but, in contrast, his government has decided to cut down 10 per cent of jobs in government offices. The speaker said the high illiteracy rate needs a boost to the infrastructure of education but what the government is doing is to cut down its expenditure on education. Many teachers don’t have regular pays. He then asked, “How can the goal of education for all be achieved with such policies?”

The DYFI leader also criticised the BJP and Sangh Parivar for seeking to demolish the secular fabric of our country. They demolished the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in a planned conspiracy, and now they are targetting some other religious places as well as monuments like the Taj Mahal and Qutab Minar. The so-called economic reforms that are actually anti-people and the communal drive that seeks to divide the people on communal lines need to be fought tooth and nail. This means that the youth and students also have to shoulder the responsibility for fighting for a better India.

Professor Shivdas Utane (CPI), AISF general secretary Vijendra Kesari and Manohar Deshkar (AITUC) also addressed the convention. In his address, former AIFUCTO president Kishore Thekkedatha outlined the capitalist system in brief, calling it as a never-crisis-free system, and explaining why capitalism cannot provide education and jobs for all. It is only socialism that can fulfil this demand, he said, and quoted the example of China that is providing free education up to graduation level. Despite all the crisis facing it today, Cuba is providing jobs to all. While drafting our constitution, Dr Babasahef Ambedkar stressed the need to provide compulsory education for children up to age 14, but our government, through amendment 93, made it as 6 to 14. Now what about children from 0 to 6? While the UNISEF calls for sufficient nutritious food for this age group, our government is making food a commodity and education a commodity. In fact, capitalism is doomed to always remain in crisis and the burden of that crisis is always shifted on to the common man. This is what imperialist powers are now seeking to do at the global level. But while we need a socialist alternative to this system in India, the Sangh Parivar is posing an obstacle to it by breaking the very unity of the people.

SFI state secretary Maharudra Dake placed the report at the convention. On behalf of the DYFI, its state secretary Shailendra Kamble and CEC member Arun Latkar spoke on this report. About 1200 students and youth attended this convention.