On 10^th September, all the teachers’ organisations of Rajasthan came together to burn effigies of Education Minister Kalicharan Saraf, Panchayatraj Minister Gulab Chand Kataria and Additional Chief Secretary, Shyam S Agrawal for expressing views insulting to teachers.

Repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act!

With deepest outrage, the CGPI condemns the utterly unjustifiable arrest on August 22, 2014, of Irom Sharmila, the brave activist from Manipur who has been relentlessly fighting for over 14 years for the repeal of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

On August 17, 2014, political activists from different organisations in North India gathered in a meeting in New Delhi on the theme, “US Asia Policy, Question of Sovereignty and We the People”. Representatives of over a dozen parties and organisations participated actively in the deliberations. More than 35 delegates addressed the meeting.

The Central government has announced increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector from 26% to 49%. It has done away with the requirement of licences for defence manufacturing for all but 16 items. It has called for turning India into an arms exporter in the world arms market.

What is the solution?

Persistently high food price inflation is a sign that the capital-centric orientation of the economy is incompatible with providing even the most basic necessities for all.  The solution lies in reorienting the economy by bringing social production under social control.  Only by putting an end to the anarchy of capitalism and the domination of profiteers over the market is it possible to ensure adequate availability of nutritious food for all, alongside a stable and secure livelihood to all those who till the land. The solution lies in establishing the control of workers and peasants over the production, procurement, trade and distribution of essential commodities, eliminating the space for private profiteers in this sphere of the economy.

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The rights of the people, of workers and peasants are under fierce attack by the new NDA government. Peasants do not get any respite for their problems from the current regime. More and more workers and peasants are being pauperized by the government in its drive to intensify their exploitation and ensure good times for the capitalists.

The farmers of Navalgarh Tehsil of Jhunjhunu District of Rajasthan have been continuously sitting on a dharna, for the last four years, under the leadership of Kishan Sangharsh Samiti. They are demanding that their fertile land which provides them livelihood, must not be acquired for use by cement companies.