People's Democracy

PUNJAB NEWSLETTER

DYFI Holds Convention on Employment

TAKING forward the campaign on issues related to employment, initiated by the central executive committee of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), its Punjab and Chandigarh state committee organised a state level convention on May 24 at Panjabi Bhawan in Ludhiana. Delhi state DYFI secretary Puran Chand inaugurated the convention and Dr Piara Lal Garg, former registrar of Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences, was the chief guest. Garg is also the coordinator of Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samity in Punjab.

While presenting his paper on the situation of employment in Punjab, Dr Piara Lal Garg said the share of the government and semi-government institutions in the quantum of employment in Punjab in the year 1981 was 73.65 per cent (4,67,975 employees in the government and semi-government institutions out of a total of 6,35,135), which declined to 69.73 per cent by the year 2000 and to 55.85 per cent by the year 2008. He said the percentage of the families with one member in employment was 22.7 per cent in 1981 whereas it declined to 19.38 per cent by the year 2000 and to 13.95 per cent by 2008. He further said that 95.5 per cent of the posts were filled up in 1981 but this percentage declined to 77.9 per cent by the year 2009.

Garg said 4,56,052 posts are required in the government institutions in the year 2010, according to the growth of population, as against the 2,66,553 in 1981, but the number available at present is only 3,65,762 and only 2,84,983 among these are filled up. Therefore 1,71,069 opportunities of employment are not provided to the youth. He claimed that about 4 lakh opportunities in the government and semi-government institutions taken together are not provided to the youth as the required number of posts is 8,00,363 and the filled-up posts are 4,06,978.

According to the speaker, the solution of the problem of unemployment can be found in organising the youth under the banner of an organisation with a scientific outlook, like the DYFI is.

DYFI state president Surinder Khiwa urged the youth to strengthen the struggle in the state.

DYFI state secretary Asha Nand said unemployment is increasing due to implementation of the pro-capitalist and pro-imperialist policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation which were adopted by the Congress government at the centre in 1991 and are being implemented by the Akali-BJP state government more vehemently than the UPA-2 government.

The convention called for holding tehsil level demonstration and dharnas on June 8 and district level demonstrations and dharnas on July 8, the martyrdom day of Shaheed Gurnam Singh Uppal. It decided to prepare for a state level rally at Chandigarh in the month of August or September and parliament march in the month of November.

The convention was greeted by Vijay Misra and Sukhwinder Sekhon. It was also addressed by Sukhpreet Johal, Sushil Kumar, Harpal Purba, Dharam Chand,Udai Singh, Sukhwinder Nagi, Ram Adhar,Gurmit Singh, Avtar Singh, Kulwinder Bhudan, Dr Gurwinder Singh, Swarnjit Singh Daleo and Kulwant Kotli (Asha Nand)

AIAWU

CONVENTION

THE government of India has adopted neo-liberal policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation under the dictation of the World Bank, WTO and IMF which are pro-imperialist institutions. The implementation of these policies is affecting the country as a whole. The  Akali-BJP government in Punjab is desirous to go ahead in implementing the policies and the result of it is the serious agricultural crisis, which is affecting agricultural workers as well as the peasants. These words came from Suneet Chopra, joint secretary of the All India Agricultural Workers Union, in his inaugural speech at the state level convention of the Panjab Khet Mazdoor Union on June 4, at Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna Bhawan in Chandigarh. Chopra said the availability of work for agricultural labour was 123 days in a year in 1981 which decreased to 100 days in 1991, 72 days in 2003 and 65 days at present. He further said the population of agricultural workers has increased from 7.46 crore to 10.74 crore during 1991-2001. The marginal farmers are becoming agricultural workers day by day. Industry is also going to be closed and thus the industrial workers are also going to be added to agricultural workers. Thus the conditions of the agricultural workers are worsening due to these happenings.

AIAWU state president Bhup Chand Channo said the government is curtailing the education and health facilities for the children of the poor, while converting them into commodities of trade.

AIAWU state general secretary Gurmesh Singh said the welfare schemes adopted by the governments are not enough and the existing one are getting adversely affected by corruption. He charged that NREGA is not being implemented in the state honestly, PDS has been disrupted and agricultural workers are suffering from price rises.

The convention called for tehsil level dharnas on July 5 and district level conventions in the month of August on the burning issues facing the agricultural workers.

The demands charter adopted by the convention contains the following demands: per day wage must be enhanced to Rs 200, every adult worker should be given work all the year under the NREGA, unemployment allowance at Rs 100 per day in the absence of work opportunity, PDS must be strengthened, essential commodities must be provided to the poor at less than half the rate, social and administrative oppression on dalits must stop, radical land reforms, roll-back of the decision to unbundled the PSEB and free electricity up to 200 units to dalits as in the past.

A number of other speakers also addressed the convention. (Asha Nand)

PUNJAB KISAN

SABHA RALLY

THE Punjab Kisan Sabha organised a massive state level kisan rally on June 1 at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Complex in Jalandhar, in which more than 5000 kisans participated. The rally was dedicated to the memory of Baba Banda Bahadur, a great warrior of Punjab who gave ownership rights to the peasants in Punjab 300 years ago, for the first time in the history. The dias of the rally was decorated with a big size portrait of Baba Banda Bahadur, and with the Kisan Sabha banners and flags. Gurchetan Singh, state Kisan Sabha president, presided.

Tate Kisan Sabha general secretary Lehmber Singh Taggar threw light on the exemplary life of Baba Banda Bahadur and said for the first time this legendary hero made the tillers of the land its owners. He was thus first leader of the land reform struggle. Taggar said the exploiting classes, religious fundamentalists and communal forces, intentionally, never bring to light this revolutionary aspect of Baba Banda Bahadur’s role. It is the Punjab Kisan Sabha which brought to light this contribution of the Baba.

Attacking the Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, the Shromani Akal Dal and its government at the centre, Taggar said they are celebrating the memory of Baba Banda Bahadur and claiming to be his real followers but on the other hand they are evicting the poor abadkar peasants from the lands in their possession for the last 50 to 60 years by using police force. Their intention is to enable the land mafias to grab these lands. Taggar asked: How can they claim to be the followers of Baba Banda Bahadur?

On this occasion, Taggar told the rally about the physical attacks let loose by the police, government officials and land mafias against the abadkar farmers and their families including women, children and old men in Talwandi Nau-Abad village of Ludhiana district. He, at the same time, also detailed the heroic resistance being offered by the abadkars.

Taggar demanded withdrawal of the decision to re-impose electricity bills on tubewells and canal water rent for the kisans having lands up to 7.5 acres, guarantee of 16 hour power supply during the paddy reason, distribution of Rs 800 crore received by the state government from the centre on account of drought relief among the deserving kisans and compensation of Rs 5000 per acre for about 4 to 5 quintals per acre fall in the yield of wheat. He also mentioned the dharnas staged by Punjab Kisan Sabha at about 50 places in the state in front of the electricity board offices, among other things. He said the peasantry of Punjab would have to jump into massive struggles for their just demands.

State Kisan Sabha president Gurchetan Singh demanded complete debt relief for the deserving kisans, special debt relief of Rs one lakh for the kisans who could not get any debt relief from the central government loan waiver scheme of 2008, ban on the arrests of kisans and confiscations of their properties for non-payment of loans, passage of a kisan debt relief act on the pattern of Kerala debt relief act of 2006, among other things. He also demanded a minimum support price of Rs 1350 per quintal for paddy, Rs 2500 for Basmati and Rs 4000 for cotton for the coming season, and solution to the specific problems of the kisans in Kandhi and border areas.

Through a special resolution, the rally condemned the heinous killings of leaders and workers of the democratic movement in West Bengal by the so called “Maoists” with support from the Trinamul Congress leader Ms Mamata Bannerjee, the union railway minister. It expressed solidarity with the fighting people of West Bengal, the advanced post of revolutionary movement in India.

The rally adopted a programme of struggle on the above mentioned demands of the Punjab peasantry. According to this programme, dharnas and demonstrations will be organised at the subdivision level from July 1 to 15, and at the district level from August 1 to 15. The demands charter will be sent to the chief minister of Punjab through the concerned authorities. A state level dharna and demonstration will be held at Chandigarh in the month of September.

A number of other leaders also addressed the rally. (Lehmber Singh Taggar)