Report of Mazdoor Ekta Committee correspondent
On 3rd October 2023, workers’ and farmers’ organizations jointly organized meetings across the country. In these meetings, the organizations called for intensifying the struggle to achieve their joint demands.
It is to be noted that on 24th August 2023, a joint conference of All India Workers and Farmers was organized at Talkatora stadium. In that conference, it was decided to intensify the movement across the country in a phased manner regarding the joint demands of workers and farmers. To take the movement ahead, 3rd October was decided to be celebrated as protest day across the country. During the farmers’ movement 2 years ago, 4 farmers and a journalist were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri on 3rd October.
On this occasion, workers and farmers organizations together organized a demonstration at Sansad Marg in Delhi. Along with workers, farmers also participated in large numbers in this demonstration.
This demonstration was jointly organized by AITUC, CITU, Mazdoor Ekta Committee, AIUTUC, HMS, AICCTU, I.I. C.T.U. and Samyukt Kisan Morcha.All the speakers in one voice demanded that Union Home Minister of State Ajay Mishra Teni, the main accused of Lakhimpur Kheri, should immediately resign from his post.
The speakers demanded that all workers should get a minimum wage of Rs 26,000, monthly pension of Rs 10,000 should be implemented, privatization of public institutions should be banned, National Monetization Pipeline should be canceled in all the government sectors, social security should be made available to all, farmers should get one and a half times the cost of their crops, guaranteed MSP for all crops should be implemented, cases imposed against farmers should be withdrawn, etc.
A call was made from the forum that a three-day Mahapadav will be organized in every state capital from 26th to 28th November to raise the demands of the workers and farmers.
Among those who addressed this demonstration were – Vidya Sagar Giri from AITUC, Hannan Molla from All India Kisan Sabha, Anurag Saxena from CITU, Santosh Kumar from Mazdoor Ekta Committee, Narayan Singh from H.M.S, Bhaskar from AIUTUC, Santosh Rai from AICCTU, Rupesh Verma from All India Kisan Sabha-Greater Noida and Manvendra Singh from UTUC, Srinath from ICTU, Dr. Kamal from Old Pension Scheme Movement, etc.