People's Democracy

JHARKHAND

DYFI Holds Third State Conference

 Subhash 

THE Jharkhand state unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held its third conference, in a grand style, in the capital city of Ranchi on August 11-12, 2012. Preparations for the event had started almost a week ago and the city was decorated with flags, banners and posters of the DYFI; the main road of Ranchi was clad with the white flags of the DYFI bearing the Red Star, right from the tenth of this month.

The conference commenced with a motorcycle rally starting from a place called Deladeli in Ratu block in the suburbs of Ranchi. The place has a historic significance as it is the place of martyrdom of some people who laid down their life in the tribal movement. About 200 motorcycles participated in the rally, which covered a distance of about 15 km through the streets of Ranchi, on the way to the venue of the conference.

DYFI state president Sukhnath Lohra hoisted the organisation’s flag amid slogans and cheering by thousands of youth who participated in the ceremony. Floral tributes were then paid at the altars of the martyrs who laid down their lives in defence of the people’s rights. A procession was then taken out through the streets of Ranchi --- from Rajendra Chowk to Argora Maidan. Over a thousand people thus walked through the streets, defying the downpour from the skies. Students, youth, members of the reception committee all walked together chanting slogans like Long Live Revolution, Long Live DYFI and Long Live Youth Unity. In Argora Maidan, about eight km away, the procession transformed into an open rally, addressed among others by Tapas Sinha, all- India general secretary of the organisation. He spoke on the anti-people policies of the central government which have thrown our country further into the grips of unemployment, inflation, poverty and hunger. The youth have specially been affected by the neo-liberal policies of the government which has promoted laissez faire capitalism in our country since the early 1990s. Though we boast of a high rate of GDP growth, we have not witnessed inclusive growth which could benefit all sections of the society. Though India has about 16,00,00,000 unemployed, about nine lakh posts lie vacant in different departments of the central government. Sinha urged the youth to intensify their struggles against the corrupt pro-capitalist and anti-people policies of the UPA government at the centre and the BJP led government in the state.

DYFI state secretary Sanjay Paswan too addressed the gathering. He said that the creation of the separate state of Jharkhand had given a ray of hope to millions of youth in the state, but today their aspirations lay shattered as they find themselves in the middle of rampant corruption, wrong policies, divisive forces and the lack of political goodwill. In the state too, about one lakh posts lay vacant in different government departments though unemployment is reaching alarming proportions. To make matters worse, the state is making contractual appointments, laying aside the provisions of labour laws in our country.

DYFI state president Sukhnath Lohra lashed out at the Jharkhand government on its failure to provide education and job opportunities to its youth, resulting in their massive migration from the state in search of livelihood. The gathering was also addressed by Subhash Munda, Suresh Munda (DYFI), Sudhir Das, Prakash Viplab and Sufal Mahato (AIKS), among others. Specially notable was the enthusiasm evident at the open session and the participation of young people from tribal communities.

The inaugural session of the conference was held at HRDC Hall in the evening. It started with a condolence resolution moved by Sukhnath Lohra. Professor Shishir Kumar, president of the organising committee, spoke on the importance of youth mobilisation, specially in today’s neo-liberal world, to resist the imperialist onslaught unleashed by the LPG policies. Addressing the inaugural session, Tapas Sinha laid stress on organised movement and struggles against the oppressive policies of the government. The youth need to draw inspiration from martyrs like Bhagat Singh and Birsa Munda to intensify their struggles for education, health, employment, displacement and other national and local issues, laying aside the differences of caste, creed, sex and religion. Aftab Alam (all-India president, AIYF), Praful Linda (state secretary, AIKS), Veena Linda (AIDWA) and Mahesh Bharati (state secretary, SFI) also spoke at the session.

A presidium of Sukhnath Lohra, Vikash Thakur, Suresh Munda and Pratima Tiru presided over the delegates session. The minutes committee consisted of Aashish Ranjan and Surender Ram while the credentials committee comprised Gautam Prasad and Rambriksh Dhari. Sanjay Paswan presented the political ideological report which was debated over by the delegates. The report was passed unanimously after inclusion of revisions recommendations that surfaced out in the course of the discussion. 

The important resolutions passed at the session included those on recruitment to the one lakh vacant posts, termination of contractual appointments and preference to local youth in non-gazetted appointments. The conference also decided that the DYFI would join the fight for the cause of people displaced due to different projects going on in the state, for the rights of the elected members of the panchayats and municipal bodies, that against price rise, corruption, communal and divisive forces, terrorism (including left wing terrorism) and that for universal food security.

The conference elected a new 31 member state committee with Sukhnath Lohra as president and Sanjay Paswan as secretary, and also elected 12 delegates for the forthcoming all-India conference of the DYFI, scheduled to be held at Bengaluru on September 11-15.

DYFI central committee member Abhay Mukherjee delivered the concluding speech while the vote of thanks was proposed by Subhash Munda, secretary of the organising committee.