The Working committee meeting was preceded by a huge rally of thousands of workers in the city of Jaipur on 13th November which was addressed by E Balanandan, M K Pandhe, President and General Secretary of CITU respectively, Chittabrata Mazumder, Secretary, CITU, Hetram Baniwal, Ravindra Shukla President and General Secretary of the Rajasthan State CITU and Amra Ram, MLA, Vice president of State Kisan Sabha. The mass meeting was presided over by Krishnakant Verma, Vice President of State CITU.

On 14th, the session of the working committee commenced with flag hoisting and the inaugural Presidential Address by E Balanandan. E Balanandan pointed to the machinations of the imperialist powers led by USA to re-establish their political and economic hegemony on the developing countries in the world in the background of deep seated recession ruling the world economy. IMF, World Bank, WTO and other international agencies are being utilised by them to subjugate the economies of the developing countries to make them the hunting ground for profit by the Multinational companies, setting in a process of recolonisation. On the other hand, US led imperialist block has been flexing their military muscles on the world polity under various pretexts, to assert their political domination. The happenings in Nicaragua, Cuba, Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia, Korea and many other places through nineties are cases of shameless intrusion on the sovereignty of various nations in the world by the imperialist block, with the United Nations remaining approver/silent onlooker. The post soviet world is witnessing even deeper crisis for the capitalist system, by way of widening disparity, aggravating poverty and squeezing the market space, and the policies of globalisation liberalisation and privatisation are being piloted through IMF/WB/WTO mechanism on the developing countries to make wider space for the multinational companies operating from the rich countries for their loot and plunder. Like many other countries, the Indian rulers are also capitulating to the economic and political designs of the imperialist powers, which has posed a serious threat to the sovereignty of the country and the rights and living of the working class and the toiling masses. There is no alternative to a bitter struggle, if we are to defend the country’s interest and our rights and livelihood, and working class must take up the challenge of mobilising the common people in the united countrywide struggle, Balanandan asserted.

While placing the General Secretary’s report, M K Pandhe highlighted the dangerous symptoms surfacing on the whole body of the society consequent upon return to power at the centre by the BJP led combine. The opportunist 24 party combine with the communal BJP heading the group in the seat of governance signals ominous portents. The communal machinations perpetrated on the society by the same combine during their last 17 months rule is going to mount further as the saffron brigade has started demonstrating its fangs and claws with renewed ferocity emboldened by the electoral victory on the occasion of Pope visit to India. Shameless bid to saffronise education, administration and all other institutions by the BJP led Govt has been going on in full swing. This also signals danger for democratic fabric and the unity of the toiling people and the working class has to assert its organised opposition to all such communal and disruptionist machination of the BJP led Govt and the sangh parivar, Pandhe reiterated.

In his report, M K Pandhe also dealt with the national economic situation signalling all round decline in all the sectors and aggravating and widening poverty among the mass of the people following the vigorous pursuance of the policy of so called liberalisation and privatisation and globalisation by the BJP led Govt during last one and half years. Industrial growth rate has declined along with aggravation of sickness and closure and employment generation has turned negative implying joblosses and mounting unemployment. Only in the organised sector, more than few lakh jobs were lost in a span of last one year, ending -March 99 as per estimate. Gross underemployment has become the order of the day in the unorganised sector. In the name of attracting foreign investment, the liberal concessions being granted to foreign capital in various forms ultimately resulted in least inflow of FDI, rather showing a steady decline over the period, while plunging the domestic industries in serious disadvantage and facilitating take over of Indian companies by the MNCs. Fact reveals that the net employment creation by foreign companies is practically negative in view of the fact that employment got drastically reduced in all the companies taken over by MNCs.

Contrary to the tall promises by the champions of liberalisation and despite opening of the country’s economy to its bottom obliging the WTO and IMF bosses, India has been consistently losing out on the export front, which dipped in absolute term last year. Hasty passage of Patent Amendment Act in the 12th Lok Sabha by the BJP Govt in collusion with the Congress party is destined to bring about a calamity like situation in the national economy in the coming years. Pandhe also pointed out the exercise being carried on by the G-7 countries to perpetrate further depredation on developing countries in the coming Seattle Ministerial meet of WTO, which the Govt of India must oppose at all cost.

Expressing concern over the desperation of the BJP led Govt to oblige their masters at Washington, Pandhe said that it has gone to such an extent that in the name of second generation reform, they are virtually putting the country on sale. Shares of blue chip public sector companies in oil gas and telecom sector have been sold abroad at a price lower than the price prevailing in the domestic market. Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill for opening the nationalised insurance sector to the private sector and foreign companies has been introduced in the first session itself of the 13th Lok Sabha as committed by the BJP minister before the American business lobby at New York. The Govt also stepped up move for privatising the nationalised banks. The frenzy of the BJP led Govt to privatise the country’s financial sector in haste exposes their loyalty to imperialist capital, allowing them to usurp the savings of the Indian people at the cost of national interest.

Pandhe also pointed out that, to complement their design for total sell out of the country’s economy, the Vajpayee Govt is working overtime to completely dismantle the existing labour laws to give the employers the right to hire and fire, withdraw all regulatory provision guiding working hours and other service conditions, introduce exit policy, drastically curtail the trade union rights and virtually illegalise strikes, impose stringent restrictions on formation and registration of trade unions and legitimise deployment on contract system in almost all permanent areas of work. All these are being done in the name of labour flexibility. The Second National Commission on Labour has already been constituted by the BJP led Govt, mostly with the yes-men of BJP combine with a tailor-made terms of reference in that direction. In fine the move is to impose conditions of slavery on the working class and weaken the forces of resistance against the economic misdeeds and crimes of those in governance and thus allow the capitalist class a heyday of ruthless exploitation. The working class must close its rank and defend its hard earned rights at any cost, Pandhe asserted.

38 members out of 120 present took active part in the deliberations of the meeting. The debate stressed the urgent need of building up country-wide united struggle to combat the disastrous anti-national policies of the BJP led Govt at the centre and their communal machinations to disrupt the unity of the common people. The speakers also gave a detailed account of their experience during the election campaign trail, and also the ploy of both the BJP led and the congress camps to establish the so called irreversibility of, and their competing assertion for the liberalisation policies, to enlist the support and assistance of the capitalist lobby. Such a situation mandates the working class and the trade union movement to assert the alternative to the policy of liberalisation before the mass of the people and build up widespread people’s resistance to the retrograde anti-people policies throughout the country, as reiterated by various speakers in the meeting.

E Balanandan, President, CITU, winding up the debate, stressed upon the urgency of building up united struggle in the days to come and called upon the CITU affiliates to make all out organisational preparation to take on the challenge. The deliberations were summed up by M K Pandhe. The concluding address was given by Samar Mukherjee, Vice President, CITU, as Com Balanandan had to leave early for another important meeting. The working committee concluded with the reassertion of the following urgent tasks to be taken up with all seriousness:

The working committee unanimously concluded that building up a countrywide resistance struggle against the desperate haste of the Govt in the name of second generation reform and attack on labour right is the most urgent task of the day and CITU must take all out initiative for the same. All the CITU units must unleash an intensive campaign among the mass of the workers and the people on the dangerous implication of the mad drive of privatisation, and other policy measures and its unscrupulous design of attack on labour rights and the communal and divisive policies of the BJP led Govt. They must prepare organisationally for a bitter struggle ahead.

The working committee expressed satisfaction that all workers and trade unions cutting across affiliations have voiced their opposition to the retrograde economic policies of the Govt and attack on trade union rights. The committee called upon the working class to expand such opposition to widespread resistance struggle throughout the length and breadth of the country. The working committee, while reiterating the decision of the Sponsoring Committee of Indian Trade Unions gave a call to observe "National Protest Day" on the opening day of the winter session of Parliament on 29th November through massive demonstration in all state capitals and industrial centres. On the same day a massive workers’ demonstration will be held before the Parliament along with employees of bank and insurance sectors.

The Committee welcomes the joint decision of the trade unions and officers’ associations in banking and insurance sector for going on countrywide strike action on the following day, the IRA Bill is taken up for discussion in Parliament. The Committee calls upon the entire trade union movement and CITU affiliates in particular to stage protest agitation in solidarity with the employees of financial sector on the day of their strike.

The Working committee also decided to take initiative in association with Committee of Public Sector Trade Unions (CPSTU) to build up united struggle of the public sector employees through a phased campaign and agitation to culminate in a countrywide strike action in the coming months. It noted that initiative is already being taken to build up united movement in Coal, Port & Dock, Transport, Cement, Textile and Electricity sectors by the respective CITU unions.

The Working Committee decided that CITU, in consultation with its allies in the Sponsoring Committee of Indian Trade Unions and also other Central TUs and other all India independent federations, and in co-ordination with the movemental initiatives in various sectors would strive for a massive agitation including countrywide strike action against disastrous anti-national policies of the Govt and attack on labour rights and to resist the nefarious design to put the country’s economy on sale.

CITU noted the opposition voiced by INTUC and BMS also against the anti-people, anti-worker policies of the Govt and appealed their leadership also to join actively the initiative of the Sponsoring Committee of Indian Trade Unions for countrywide united struggle.

The Working committee called upon the working class all over the country to be vigilant against the disruptive activities of the communal outfits like RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and the move of the BJP led Govt to communalise the education, administration and various other important institutions of the country. The Communal harmony must be protected at all cost which is a prerequisite for advancing democratic movement to safeguard the interests of the nation and toiling people.

Besides the above, the Working Committee while expressing serious concern and sorrow over the devastation and loss of lives caused by super-cyclone in Orissa, called upon the working class and the CITU unions in particular to come forward and donate their mite for the cyclone affected population. It is noted that already many state committees and unions have taken initiative to raise funds and material assistance for cyclone-relief and CITU called upon the affiliates to redouble the effort for organising relief and demanded upon the Govt of India to declare the Orissa situation a national calamity and extend all required help and assistance for relief, restoration and reconstruction.

The Working Committee, by a resolution, unanimously condemned the brutal killing of 17 innocent people at Tripura by the terrorist outfit demanding upon the Govt of India to increase deployment of security force at Tripura for combating terrorist machination.

CITU ON THE MOVE

The Working Committee of CITU decided various steps on the organisational front :