Editorial 4th Quarter 2020

                                                 EDITORIAL FIRE MAGAZINE

January,2021                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

T. HANUMAIAH     CHIEF    EDITOR

 

Fight against Privatisation, corporatisation,Anti people and Anti-worker policies of Government of India. 

 

It is the sacred duty of railwaymen and their Federations, Unions, Associations to unitedly fight against privatisation/ corporatisation of Railways.Establish NCCRS at all levels to spearhead the struggle for retaining the Railways as a department of Government of India. In this struggle, efforts should be made to explain the evil effects of privatisation/ corporatisation to the travelling public and the mass of the people, to make them party to the struggle against privatisation and corporatisation.

 

The Government of India, in furtherance of the interests of private corporates, bulldozing the process of Railway privatisation/corporatisation unabated. All walks of People and Railwaymen should not remain as mute spectators to this anti people and pro corporate policies of Government of India, as they are adversely affecting the interests of people at large, including their livelihood and lives.

 

As per the directives of AILRSA the Secretary General comrade M N Prasad had successfully dealt the issue of forging a co-ordinated effort with Federations, Unions and Associations to form a joint platform to oppose privatisation of Indian Railways. In the Result, a joint Meeting was convened by comrade Siva Gopal Mishra for the purpose. The outcome of meeting was constitution of NCCRS with AIRF and NFIR as Convenor and Co-Convenor with other organisations and AILRSA as members.

 

 

As a result of theanti-people economic policies pursued in favour of exploitative rich and corporate classes, the economic situation continues to remain distressed. Theseflawed economic policies have resulted in the steep decline of number of employed persons, while thenumber of unemployed persons is on ever increase. The purchasing capacity of people declined. In the result, the people's consumption spending has dipped, steeply.

 

This economic crisis doesn't seem to be affecting the profits of the corporate sector which has reported the highest ever profit (among listed companies) of Rs.1.33 Lakh Crore in July-September quarter, the highest ever. That is because they cut back on spending by sacking the workers, increasing their work loadand reducing their wages

.

This phenomenon is a positive proof of Government's pro-corporate and anti-workers policies.

 

With the passage of 4 Labour Codes, undemocratically, without even consulting the concerned stakeholders, the life of workers and employees changed drastically to the worse situation of their lively hood questioning their very existence. The 4 Labour Codes are:

 

1.Industrial Relations Code,                          

2. Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code.

3. Code on social security.

4.Code on wages.

 

These four Codes together constitute an integrated dismantling of 29 existing Labour Laws which provides some protection to the workers and employees from exploitation. Taken together,these new laws allow the Employers to increase working hours to an unprecedented 12 hours in a working day, introduce a system of"fixed term employment", a Contractual nature of work, dismantle the well settled wage fixation norms for Governments, give more leeway rather unbridled freedom to remove workers from service without having to take permission and bring workers in diverse trades with specific problems under umbrella provisions. Social security benefits remain restricted, as large sections including Scheme workers remain outside the purview and the eligibility criteria based on number of workers have beenraised. The Employer's Contributions to ESI and EPF have been reduced,causing starvationof funds to these bodies. In the result, the Enforcement machinery which was already grasping for breath has been further disarmed. As a result,a large number of matters are now left to the discretion of concerned Government authorities rather than being part of the statutes.Thus, leaving the door open to further weakening of the protective and welfare oriented erstwhile laws,that had been won by the workers through struggles, over a period of several decades. Even, the right to organise Unions and protests has been made more difficult.

 

These new labour laws are nothing but, a licence conferred on corporate classeswith unbridled freedom to hire and fire the workers, withlower wages, increased work load and thus, these legislations are a boon of paradise,to the Capitalist classes. Therefore, these labour laws have to be Repealed.

 

In the month of June,2020, when the Pandemic Covid-19 is in its peak, the Government of India promulgated3Ordinances which dealt a devastatingblow to the existing system of Cultivation,Trade,Stock holdings and prices of agricultural Produce. To replace the ordinances, bills were introduced in parliament in September,2020 and passed them denying the opposition parties MPs any chance to discuss or Hold a proper voting on them. Earlier to this, the Government had moved a bill on amending the Electricity act which would, ultimately, end up curtailing the subsidised Electric power to farmers, resulting in additional burden on Farmers as it increases the cost of Irrigation, by leaps and bounds.

 

These 3 Laws and bill will open the India's agriculture sector to the Predatory Agri-Businesses thereby, facilitating the big traders to make profits while crushing the Farmers. About 80% of the Farmers possess small and medium land holdings. In addition to this the farmers, the Agricultural Labourers, share croppers and tenant farmers will also suffer from the effects of these laws.

 

The Farmers produce Trade and Commerce (promotion and Facilitation) Act or APMC law, as it is popularly known allows private entities to buy up Key food grains directly from farmers, in competition with Government run Agricultural produce market committees (APMC's) with no guarantee for Government declared Minimum Support Price (MSP). In such an unequal Trade between powerless Farmers and Giant Corporates, it results, in a Death Knell to the MSP System, which is a life line for many Farmers.

 

The Farmers (Empowerment and protection agreement) on price assurance and farm services, otherwise known as the Contract Farming Law, is meant to give a boost to Contract Farming which would make the Farmers to become wage labourers on their own lands, besides subjecting them to vagaries of global Companies and their profit seekingmethods.

 

The third law amends the existing Essential Commodities Act by removing all restrictions on Stocks of Essential food produce, and even largely allow freedom to determine prices. In the result, it would encourage Hording and Black marketeering in essential commodities and Vegetables, pushing the prices beyond the reach of consumers.

 

Besides, destroying Farmer's lives, the 4anti-farmer laws would also prepare the ground for destruction of public procurement of food grains, thus leading to the collapse of public distribution system. Crores of people across India who depend on subsidised food grains, especially in these times when unemployment is high, would be left to fend for themselves, as the Government distances itself from its responsibility. This is in line with what theadvanced Capitalist countries have been pressing India for, in WTO negotiations and elsewhere, so that the food grains from their countries can be exported to India, as a measure of making profit at the cost of Farmers and people of India. It, also, adversely affects the agriculture base in India.

 

 

The AILRSA calls upon Railwaymen and their organisations:

 

a) To extend solidaritywith the historic ongoing struggles of Kissans, demanding repeal of the Anti-farmer Agri- laws.

b) to support and join the actions of the working classin their ongoing struggles against large scale privatisation/corporatisation, scrapping of labour laws and the loot of national assets of India.

c) To form NCCRS units at all levels throughout India with greater unity and strengthen them so as, to effectively organise struggles against privatisation/ corporatisation of Railways and other anti-working-class policies

 

 

The Chief Editor.