On 1 April 2025, a fire broke out in a firecracker factory in Banaskantha district of Gujarat after a horrific explosion. 21 people including five children died in this fire and six others were injured. The explosion was so terrible that the bodies of the workers who died were blown to pieces and some parts of the building collapsed. Due to the collapse, many people died after being crushed. Five children and many women were also among the dead.
The Communist Ghadar Party of India expresses deep condolences to the families of the deceased.
Most of the people who died in this accident were originally from Halia village of Harda district of Madhya Pradesh. They had come to work in this firecracker factory in the hope of better earnings. It is known that in Madhya Pradesh, Rs.250-300 is the compensation for making 1000 firecrackers. All these people were brought to Gujarat by luring them with the promise of Rs. 400 for making 1000 crackers. Children also worked in this firecracker factory and were given the job of packing firecrackers. For this, they were paid Rs. 250-300 per 1000.
The officials occupying the highest posts in the government and administration will have to be held accountable for this. The culprits should be given the harshest punishment.
Such dreadful accidents keep happening every day somewhere in our country. Countless workers are killed in these accidents. Workers have to work in very dangerous conditions. Safety standards are ignored in most of the enterprises.
In many cities of the country, lakhs of such factories are run by capitalists, in which crores of men and women are forced to work without any kind of security, risking their lives for two meals a day – all with the connivance of the administration. Such incidents repeatedly bring to the fore the barbaric, inhuman face of the existing capitalist system.
We must struggle to replace this cannibalistic capitalist system with a system in which workers and their working conditions will not be viewed from the perspective of “reducing the cost of production”, but rather the first and foremost responsibility of the state will be to meet the needs of all workers and ensure their safety.