Workers, Farmers, Agricultural Workers To March In Delhi On April 5 To Protest Modi Govt

Workers, farmers, and agricultural workers will march together to Delhi on April 5 to protest the Narendra Modi government's policy of ensuring "Amrit Kaal for cronies like Adani and Ambani" while price rises and unemployment break the backs of ordinary people.

The CITU, All India Kisan Sabha, and All India Agricultural Workers Union are organizing the 'Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally,' which is expected to draw tens of thousands of people and is a repeat of a similar exercise held on September 5, 2018.

The protest will serve as a chargesheet against the Modi government, with 13 demands including ensuring minimum wages of Rs 26,000 per month and a pension of Rs 10,000 for all workers, scrapping the Agnipath scheme, no contractual labor, ensuring minimum support prices for crops as suggested by the Swaminathan Commission, and a one-time loan waiver for all poor and middle-income peasants and agricultural workers.

They also demand the repeal of four Labor Codes and the Electricity Amendment Bill, 2022, the expansion of MGNREGA workdays to 200 with a minimum wage of Rs 600 per day, the implementation of an urban job guarantee scheme, the halting of privatization of Public Sector Units and public services, the reduction of central excise tax on fuel, the taxation of the super-rich, the introduction of a wealth tax, and the enhancement of corporate tax.

The Modi government is "going all out to ensure 'Amrit Kaal' for cronies like Adani and Ambani by exploiting and looting workers and peasants," according to general secretaries Tapan Sen (CITU), Vijoo Krishnan (Kisan Sabha), and B Venkat (AIAWU), while pro-corporate policies have put the working classes' daily lives under severe inflationary pressure.

They accused the Modi government of being "utterly insensitive" to the "burning problem" of unemployment while doing everything possible to undermine workers' existing legal rights, including the right to a living wage. They said the written agreement to farmers' organizations, including that of guaranteed remunerative price, during the historic agitation against the "three black farm laws," has "totally been ignored".

"People's legal entitlements to food, health care, and education are being eroded. Simultaneously, all democratic institutions are being dismantled, and democratic rights are being eroded. All forms of dissent against the ruling regime are met with draconian legislation such as the UAPA. The ruling RSS-BJP dispensation spreads communal venom in order to divide people's unity on real issues "They stated.

"This is a continuation of our ongoing struggles in various worker and peasant joint platforms, including the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions and Samyukta Kisan Morcha. This joint campaign and mobilization will strengthen and advance the workers', farmers', and agricultural workers' joint struggles "They went on to say.

The decision to hold a joint rally was made at a convention last September.

Source:- Deccan Herald 

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