Report of a correspondent of Mazdoor Ekta Committee
Organisations of workers and peasants throughout the country are preparing for a massive protest action – Mahapadhav – on November 26-28, to highlight their long-standing demands and take their common struggle forward.
A meeting was organised by Mazdoor Ekta Committee on November 13, on the subject ‘Way Ahead for the Worker-Peasant United Front’. Comrade Birju Nayak, Secretary, Mazdoor Ekta Committee, Comrade Hannan Mollah, General Secretary, All India Kisan Sabha; Shri Shailendra Dubey, Chairman, All India Power Engineers’ Federation (AIPEF); Shri Devidas Tuljapurkar, Joint Secretary, All India Bank Employees’ Association; and Shri Girish, Joint Secretary, Kamgar Ekta Committee were the main speakers at the meeting.
The meeting was attended by activists of trade unions and workers’ organisations from different sectors – electricity and power workers, railway workers, bank workers, workers in the education and health services, and many others. Representatives of several peasant organisations, activists working for the rights of unorganised workers, human rights activists, attended the meeting and enthusiastically took part in the deliberations.
Initiating the discussion, Comrade Birju Nayak conveyed his best wishes for the enthusiastic preparations being made by workers’ and peasants’ organisations all over the country, for the Mahapadhav.
He gave many examples to show how the exploitation and loot of workers and peasants is being intensified in order to fulfil capitalist greed. Chieftains of various capitalist houses are claiming that workers must be ready to toil for 70 hours every week, allegedly for the sake of India’s development. The domination of Indian and foreign capitalists is growing in all spheres of the economy, including in agriculture. Crores of kisans are sinking deeper into debt because the prices they receive for their produce are too low compared to the rising cost of agricultural inputs. While the conditions of workers and peasants are becoming intolerable, those who fight for the rights of workers, peasants and other oppressed people are being branded as anti-national and locked up for indefinite periods under draconian laws such as UAPA. Communal hatred and violence targeting religious minorities is being systematically organised.
Birju Nayak highlighted the main demands of the worker-peasant front, which include a legal guarantee for the Right to Work, National Minimum Wage of Rs. 26,000 per month, withdrawal of the four Labour Codes, ending contract labour, universal registration of all wage workers with social security and pension, immediate halt to privatisation, withdrawal of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022, waiver of peasants’ loans and guaranteed procurement of peasants’ produce at a minimum support price of 50% above the total cost of production.
He pointed out that although workers and peasants have held so many mass actions in support of these demands, their voices have remained unheard. This is because the agenda for the country is set by the Indian and foreign monopoly capitalists, while we workers and peasants are completely excluded from decision-making power, in the present political system.
Indian and foreign monopoly capitalists use their money power and control over news and social media to organize the victory of that party which can most effectively fool the people while implementing the program to enrich the capitalist class. That is why, even though Congress Party replaced BJP in 2004 and BJP replaced Congress Party in 2014, the program of globalisation, through liberalisation and privatisation, the course of intensification of exploitation and loot of workers and peasants has remained unchanged.
Birju Nayak expressed the need for workers and peasants to prepare to take the destiny of India in our hands. Our demands must include measures to change the political system and electoral process, to bring decision-making power into our hands, he said. We workers and peasants must have the right to hold elected representatives to account and to recall them at any time if they do not serve our interests. We must have the right to propose or reject laws and policies. We must also have a say in selecting the candidates for election. We must demand and fight for the repeal of draconian laws, including the UAPA. We must demand constitutional guarantees for all democratic and human rights. Workers and peasants need to become the rulers of the country and reorient the economy to ensure secure livelihood and prosperity for all, he concluded.
Comrade Hannan Mollah elaborated on the fact that workers and peasants, together, are the producers of all the wealth of the country. They toil to ensure food security for our people as well as all the necessities of life. However, these toilers are the victims of brutal exploitation and loot by the capitalists in the prevailing capitalist system. The capitalists have increased their wealth enormously over the past 75 years, through this exploitation of the workers and peasants. At the same time, feudal oppression also continues.
Describing the crisis of the peasantry he pointed out that the path pursued by successive governments has completely ruined the peasants. Over 5 lakh peasants have committed suicide due to indebtedness. Rising cost of agricultural inputs and the lack of assured procurement at remunerative prices are the two factors responsible for this. The kisan andolan has demanded one-time waiver of kisan loans and guaranteed procurement of peasants’ produce at a minimum support price of 50% above total cost of production (C-2), as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission. But the government has refused to grant these demands.
The three anti-kisan laws were brought in by the Narendra Modi government to favour the big corporates in agriculture at the expense of the peasantry. Peasants realised this and fought against it unitedly, for 384 days and nearly 700 peasants sacrificed their lives. Finally the government was forced to withdraw the laws.
Similarly, the Narendra Modi government has passed the four labour codes, forcing the workers to work for 12 hours a day, depriving them of all their rights as workers, so that the corporates can make fabulous profits. The promises of the government to the kisan andolan, when we withdrew our agitation at Delhi’s borders, such as guaranteed state procurement at minimum support price, loan waiver, withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Act 2022, withdrawal of cases against agitating peasants, compensation for the families of peasants who lost their lives, punishment for those guilty of the killing of agitating peasants at Lakhimpur Kheri – these have remained unfulfilled for the past two years.
On the issue of worker-peasant unity, he highlighted the fact that workers’ organisations have supported the peasants. Workers in the major public sector industries, railways, electricity, banking, insurance, etc. have organised Bharat bandhs in support of the peasants’ demands. In this manner, the worker-peasant unity has been forged. Now, workers and peasants are not just supporting each others struggles. We have resolved to fight together against the attacks on our livelihood and rights.
Elaborating on the future course of the struggle, Com Hannan Mollah said that on August 24 this year, at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi, representatives of more than 500 peasant organisations and 10 central trade unions came together to work out the course of our joint struggle. On November 26-28, we are going to wage this joint struggle all over the country. In all the state capitals we are going to agitate at the offices of the state Governors. We are going to issue a warning to the government that if it does not take any action on our demands, then we will step up our struggle.
Shri Shailendra Dubey emphasised the importance of strengthening the worker-peasant unity. One of its main assurances to the kisan andolan, that the government has violated, was that the Electricity Amendment Bill 2022 would not be brought to Parliament without consulting the peasants. When opposition parties objected to the Bill, it was sent to a Standing Committee where it has been gathering dust for the past one year. The Standing Committee claims that it is consulting stakeholders, but neither the electricity workers, nor the peasants, nor even the mass of consumers are included in these stakeholders. The stakeholders the government is consulting, are the representatives of the big corporate houses, such as FICCI, Association of Independent Power Producers, etc.
Shri Dubey expressed his concern that the Bill may be tabled once again in the winter session of Parliament, December 4-22. The kisan andolan, he said, had understood very well the disasters they would face if the Electricity Amendment Bill 2022 gets passed in its present form. For example, the Bill states that “all the prudent costs will be recovered from the consumer”. These include the costs of production, transmission and distribution of electricity. Big corporate houses are eyeing the power sector as a source of huge profits. Peasants are one of the biggest consumers of electricity. He gave examples to show how the Bill, if passed, will make the cost of electricity unaffordable for the vast majority of peasants. The central Power Minister has declared that peasants would be given subsidy later by Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), but if the peasant is unable to clear his immediate electricity dues, then his electricity connection will be cut!
Shri Dubey thanked the kisan andolan for opposing the Electricity Amendment Bill. The AIPEF, he said, had consistently supported the kisan agitation at Delhi’s borders, considering the peasants as a very important component of the struggle against the Bill. He went on to denounce the government for its repression of the workers’ struggles. In UP and MP, the electricity workers are facing suspension orders for going on strike. The right to strike and protest is being systematically taken away. Workers and peasants have to fight together to put an end to this repression, he said, expressing his full support for the decisions of the August 24 Convention. The 27 lakh electricity workers of the country will march together with the peasants in this struggle, he affirmed.
Shri Devidas Tuljapurkar expressed the support of the bank workers all over the country for the joint struggle of the workers and peasants. He explained in detail about the changes in the state’s banking policy with the pushing ahead of the program of liberalisation and privatisation. Bank loans given by the public sector banks to the Food Corporation of India have been drastically cut down. This has resulted in severe cutback in state procurement of various food-grains such as rice. This has also resulted in cutting down of food-grains available in government ration outlets for workers in the cities. The emphasis of banks is not on giving agricultural loans to the peasants. Instead, there is a huge increase in banks giving personal loans for consumer goods and housing loans. Agricultural loans for the small and medium peasants is not all the priority of the government, whereas loans to the big corporate houses is the priority. To illustrate this, he gave the example of Maharashtra, where South Mumbai district, in which all the big corporate headquarters are located, reports the highest agricultural bank loans. Agricultural loans to small and medium peasants are now being given through the NBFCs and other financial intermediaries, which charge very high interest rates.
Shri Tuljapurkar also highlighted the increasing privatisation of banks and the creation of new small finance banks which lend to the peasants at as high rates as 42 percent interest! This is with the full knowledge and permission of the RBI. With the collapse of the cooperative banking system, the small and medium peasants are completely devastated. Bank workers are opposed to the privatisation of banks and to the orientation of banking to benefit the big corporates. That is why it is essential for bank workers to join hands with the peasants in this struggle, he concluded.
Shri Girish drew attention to the fact that workers and peasants together make up more than 90 percent of the population. The worker-peasant united front is a front that encompasses the vast majority of the toiling people. Moreover, most urban workers have their roots in the peasantry while most peasant households have members who are workers in the cities. This points to the close integral relationship between workers and peasants.
Workers and peasants are the creators of all the wealth of society. Yet, workers and peasants in every part of the country are out on the streets in struggle, for their rights, for security of livelihood, for the most basic needs and for a dignified human existence. Workers of public sector undertakings – electricity, banking, railways, mining, etc. – are in struggle against handing over of public assets and services to the Indian and foreign monopoly corporate houses. It is because of the united struggle of workers and peasants that the government has not been able to pass the Electricity Amendment Bill 2022. So together, we workers and peasants are a powerful force and our enemy, the ruling capitalist class, is well aware of this. That is why our rulers try to divert us from our struggle, break our unity and fighting spirit.
Shri Girish gave examples of how the capitalist propaganda machine tries to divide workers and peasants. When peasants demand higher prices for their produce, workers are told that this is responsible for the rising food prices. Whereas, the reality is that it is the greed of the monopoly capitalist houses that is responsible for the rising prices of food and all essential commodities. Similarly, when peasants demand debt waiver, workers are told that the government will not have any money for schools and hospitals if the peasants’ demands are granted. Peasants are told that workers are lazy and do not work; that is why you do not get proper electricity and water supply. Through such false propaganda they try to divide workers and peasants. The first task of the worker-peasant united front is to expose these lies of the capitalists and to clearly point out that the ruling capitalist class is our common enemy.
The ruling class, said Shri Girish, spreads another harmful illusion — that it is not the capitalist class and its political system that is to blame for our miseries but only some inefficient or corrupt people in power. We are told that through elections we can change the party in power and expect a solution to our problems. The worker-peasant united front will have to explain to our toiling brothers and sisters that the real ruler of India is not this or that political party, but the capitalist class, which sets the agenda for the country. The capitalist houses pour in crores of rupees to form the government of that political party which will best implement their agenda while most effectively fooling the people. That is why, regardless of which party of the capitalist class is in power, the relentless attacks on the livelihood and rights of the workers and peasants continues. This truth needs to be exposed, otherwise, workers and peasants will continue to be mobilised to tail behind one or another political party serving the agenda of the bourgeoisie.
Our rulers make out that we workers and peasants cannot run the country, that we need the bourgeois political parties to run the country. We must boldly point out that it is the agenda of the bourgeoisie, of liberalisation and privatisation, implemented by all their political parties, that is responsible for pushing society to the brink of ruin. We workers and peasants know how to organise the economy to ensure the well-being of all the toilers, and we will certainly do so. For this we need to get rid of the rule of the capitalist class and organise for workers and peasants to become the ruling class, he concluded.
Several other participants made important interventions.
Shri Govindaswamy of Tamilnadu pointed out that in many crops the MSP offered by the Swaminathan commission’s recommendations is very low. He proposed that the joint workers and peasants front should set up a committee to review the MSP for various crops and make fresh recommendations. Shri Hanuman Prasad Sharma of Rajasthan emphasised on the need for workers and peasants to take control of the means of production and reorient the economy to fulfil the needs of all. Shri Dalvinder of the Indian Workers Association (GB) reminded the participants in the meeting that 106 years ago, the workers and peasants of Russia had risen in revolution and established their own rule. The times are calling for another round of revolutions, in India and elsewhere in the world, which will overthrow the rule of the capitalists and the imperialist domination of countries, and usher in well-being for all.
Shri KK Singh spoke of the need for radical social transformations. Ms Sanjeevani emphasised the need for workers and peasants to become the decision-makers and reorient the economy to ensure security and well-being for all.
Several participants criticised the program of privatisation of public sector enterprises and outright sale of public assets and services to Indian and foreign monopoly capitalists. They exposed the devastating consequences of the Electricity Amendment Bill for the toiling masses. The need to use social media and other methods to spread the message of the workers and peasants was also emphasised.
Santosh Kumar thanked the speakers and all the participants. He concluded the meeting with a call to make the Mahapadhav on November 26-28 a success. We will send a clear message to our rulers that we, workers and peasants, are ready to take the future of our country in our hands and ensure sukh and suraksha for all, he declared.