CITU DENOUNCES THE GOVERNMENT DECISION TO ENHANCE PRICES OF UREA AND OTHER FERTLISERS

CITU strongly opposes the Government’s decision to increase the Urea price by 10 per cent and to deregulate prices of other fertilizers. CITU also denounces much opposed Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme for phosphatic and potassic fertilizers.

The decisions once again exposes Government’s total insensitive approach and apathy to the plight of the people reeling under skyrocketing price of essential commodities, mainly the food items. The Government has renewed its attempts to deregulate the prices of essential agricultural inputs like fertilizer to allow the manufacturers to garner huge profits through sale of their products at global price under Import Parity Price (IPP) method, which is most unrealistic and has no link with the actual production cost.

CITU strongly feels that this decision coupled with Government’s effort to increase the price of Diesel will destabilize the food security of the India, specially when the country is facing severe draught and flood situations in various parts of country and the agricultural productivity has declined. The so called explanation given in favour of the NBS that it will depict the actual demand of the fertilizers in the country and promote realistic pricing of fertilizers in the internationals market, is a reprehensible attempt to mislead the people when actual objective of the Corporate - friendly Government is to allow the fertilizer producers to hike the prices of their products to the level of International price. Deregulation of pricing in fertilizer industry to attract fresh investment in this sector is yet another attempt to disown the responsibility of reviving the closed fertilizer units in public sector, namely, Durgapur, Haldia (West Bengal), Sindri (Jharkhand), Baruni(Bihar), Talcher (Orissa), Gorakhpur (U.P) and Ramagundam (A.P) through public investment and to gurantee windfall profits to private players.

CITU, therefore, urges upon the Government to withdraw the disastrous decision forthwith and declare:

a) Regulation of prices for all types of fertilizers in order to achieve self-sufficiency in fertilizer production to ensure food security on the country.

b) Time bound commitment to revive the closed fertilizer units in Public Sector.

February 19 : Chittabrata Majumdar Memorial Day

  

(1935-2007)

Born on August 14, 1935 in the district of Dacca in erstwhile undivided Bengal, of Swarnalata and Khshitishchandra, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar was a science graduate from the Calcutta University and he later read textile technology at the Bengal Textile Institute at Serampore in Hooghly. Renouncing offers of a professional job of a textile technologist, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar preferred what was a low-paying teacher’s job at the Salkia Vidyapith.

TU ORGANISER

A part of the rousing tide of mass struggles of the 1950s, Comrade Majumdar was involved first with the students’ movement, and later with the TU movement, being received into the then undivided CPI in 1956. He worked as one of the main Party organiser of the Howrah district and spent a large slice of his daily life organising workers. Concentrating on developing the TU movement in the engineering industry in particular, Comrade Majumdar became the secretary of the metal workers’ union in Howrah. He had intimate contact with the TU units of Bridge and Roof, Reyroll Burn, Hooghly Dock and Engineers, Bicko Lawry and other outfits. 

Taking a leadership role in Howrah in the battle against revisionism of the 1960s, Comrade Majumdar put to good use his deep insight into the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. On the CPI being split in 1964, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar played a significant role in building up the Howrah unit of the CPI(M). He worked at the district Party centre along with Communist stalwarts like Comrades Naresh Dasgupta, Joykesh Mukherjee, and Harisadhan Mitra. Incarcerated for a year and four months under the Defence of India Act by the then Congress government, Comrade Majumdar, on coming out of the jail, became a Party wholetimer.

In 1968, he became a member of the district secretariat of the Howrah unit of the CPI(M). Winning by a massive margin from the Howrah (north) Assembly constituency in 1977, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar became the minister for cottage and small-scale industries in the first Left Front government, and played a crucial role in the expansion of these sectors of industries across the state. 

Comrade Majumdar also looked after the building up of such state-run institutions catering small-scale goods as the Tantuja, the Tantusree, and the Manjusha. Interested in scientific and technological developments, Comrade Majumdar gave an organisational form to the people’s science movement in Bengal, being one of the chief architects of the Paschimbanga Vigyan Manch. Later as a member of the Rajya Sabha, Comrade Majumdar played a significant role in opposing the industrial, labour, and financial policies of the union government.

PARTY ORGANISER

Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar had a significant role to play in the organisation of the Salkia Plenum in 1978. He was elected as a member of the state committee of the CPI(M) in 1982, inducted into the state secretariat in 1985. A specialist in producing the Party Education series booklets and pamphlets, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar combined his deep knowledge of Marxism-Leninism with a subtle yet simple style of writing. A member of the central committee of the CPI(M) in 1995 at the Chandigarh Party Congress, Comrade Majumdar was made a member of the Polit Bureau in 2004 at the Delhi Party Congress.

A TU organiser of the highest calibre, Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar was a member of the general council of CITU when it was formed in 1970. He was elected the general secretary of the Bengal unit of the CITU in 1990 as a leading TU organiser. He was made one of the secretaries of the CITU at the national level in 1991. Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar was elected to the post of the all-India general secretary of the CITU at the 12th all-India conference of the CITU held in Chennai, re-elected to the post from the Bangalore conference in 2007.

Dedicated to the task of a united workers’ struggle against the sweep of liberalisation and globalisation, Comrade Majumdar was of the firm opinion that the struggle was for changing the policy, which would lead to a change in the government at the centre. He always spoke of the importance of taking the workers’ struggle out of the circle of economic demands into the wider realm of political struggles and movements. He also played an important role in setting up an international solidarity of workers against the dictates of imperialist globalisation.

Comrade Majumdar wrote innumerable essays and articles on such subjects as Marxism-Leninism, political economy, ideology of the Communist Party, and Party and TU organisation. Some of his writings were brought together and published in a small anthology called Ek, dui, teen (in Bengali). Comrade Majumdar represented the CITU in International TU conferences and in the ILO. He remained the editor-in-chief of the internet edition of the Ganashakti. 

Comrade Chittabrata Majumdar’s humble lifestyle, his depth of knowledge, his role as a dedicated Communist, and his achievements as a TU organiser who led from the front shall remain as icons of inspiration that he leaves behind for the present and the future generations of Communists, TU organisers, and workers.

On the 64th Anniversary of the Naval Rising of 1946

A Sketch By Chithaprasad on 1946 RIN uprising

On 18 February 1946, one of the most significant episodes in the history of anti-imperialist mass militancy in late colonial India began. It shook the foundations of the British Empire in its last days and revealed an alternative vision of decolonization from below which contradicted the social interests of the Indian upper classes.

The Ratings of the colonial ‘Royal Indian Navy’, who had survived the slaughter during the Second World War and contributed to the victory over Fascism, started a strike against low wages, poor food and racist harassment. The strike began in the battleship ‘Talwar’ stationed in the Bombay harbour and within 48 hours enveloped the naval bases of Bombay and Karachi. Even ships stationed in Aden and Bahrein responded to the strike. Soon 74 ships, four flotillas and 20 shore establishments had joined the movement in the Arabian Sea. The naval ratings removed the Union Jack and hoisted the flags of the Congress, the Muslim League and the Communist Party of India. Though initially peaceful, the protests turned violent when the colonial authorities termed the strike as a ‘mutiny’ and opened fire. The ratings retaliated in kind. The naval strike now assumed the shape of a mass uprising and affected all major port-cities of British India. In Bombay, Karachi and Calcutta, workers led by the Communist Party observed General Strikes.  Solidarity strikes were observed in the Royal Air Force also. Fierce fighting between common people and the colonial army and the police claimed 228 lives in the streets of Bombay; these were three blood-soaked days of optimum class resistance to imperialism which lasted from 21 to 23 February. Though the ratings were forced to surrender in Bombay and Karachi on the 23rd, the working-classes continued to fight and the popular upheaval persisted till 25 February.

 

The Communist Party of India, the third largest political force at the time, extended full support to the naval ratings and mobilized the working-classes in metropolitan centres. The two prinicipal bourgeois parties of British India, the Congress and the Muslim League, refused to support the rising. The class content of the mass uprising frightened them and they urged the ratings to surrender. Patel and Jinnah, two representative faces of the communal divide, were united on this issue and Gandhi also condemned the ‘Mutineers’. The only prominent leader from nationalist ranks who supported them was Aruna Asaf Ali. Upon surrender, the ratings faced court-martial, imprisonment and victimization.

 

Even after 1947, the memories of the naval strike, the related massacre and the betrayal of the people evoked uneasy responses among ruling circles of Independent India and Pakistan. These  governments refused to reinstate the sacked ratings or offer compensation. The rising was championed by Marxist cultural activists from Bengal and its radical promise was recalled through post-1947 struggles. Salil Chaudhury wrote a revolutionary song (see MS4) in 1946 on behalf of the Indian People’s Theatre Association. Later, Hemanga Biswas, another veteran of the IPTA, composed a commemorative tribute. Perhaps the best left representation remains Utpal Dutt’s play Kallol. Written in the 1960s, it was banned by the Congress government of West Bengal which felt criticized and cornered by rising left-led mass movements against its policies. Dutt himself was briefly jailed.

 

The brutal suppression of the naval rising of 1946 displayed the violence of the British Raj in its dying moments and the complicity of the subcontinental ruling-classes-in-waiting in stemming anti-imperialist assertions from below. However, this episode convinced the European masters that they could no longer depend on the Indian armed forces to continue colonial occupation. They were also worried by a degree of sympathy which the naval strike generated among the war-weary and left-wing segments of the white troops deployed in India. This accelerated the process of negotiated exit from the colony.

(Courtesy : Pragoti)

Charter of Demands of All India Convention on Employment

The DYFI organized a two day long Convention on Employment in New Delhi on 10-11 February 2010. The Convention was inaugurated by Com. Prakash Karat. Deliberations in the Convention started with the presentation of an approach paper by the DYFI CEC followed by the presentation of 9 papers on various aspects of the employment problem in India. These were followed by a vibrant discussion by the delegates attending the Convention.
 

Charter of Demands

CREATE SECURE JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL!

NO TO JOBLESS GDP GROWTH; REVERSE NEOLIBERAL POLICIES!!

FORMULATE NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY!!

General Demands:

• No to Privatization and Disinvestment of Central Public Sector Enterprises; Expand public investment by CPSEs for expansion and modernization using Rs. 5 lakh crore reserves and surplus in sectors like power, railways, oil and gas, steel, coal, telecom, defence, Research and Development etc.; Unlock the lands of closed factories in public and private sectors by removing legal hurdles for setting up new industries.
• Lift ban on recruitment and abolition of existing posts in different Central and State Government departments and PSEs; Make public status of all vacancies in Government departments and initiate fresh recruitment; Stop outsourcing, contractorisation and recruitment of retired employees in permanent jobs. 
• Release employment data along with quarterly GDP estimates (every three months); Stop releasing unemployment data once in 5 years; NSSO (National Sample Survey Organisation) and Labour Bureau should collect and publish regular data on employment/unemployment both for the organised and unorganised sector.
•    Implement land and tenancy reforms and distribute joint pattas for land; Increase public investment in agriculture and irrigation; Strengthen public procurement of crops at remunerative prices; Provide subsidised agricultural inputs; Ensure small farmers’  
•  Fulfill reservation quotas and all backlogs for SC/STs and OBCs; Implement Ranganath Mishra Commission’s recommendation to provide job reservations to minorities; Extend reservations to the private sector.
• Ensure equal pay for equal work for women and men; Provide security for women employees; Prevent sexual harassment at workplace; Abolish child labour.
• Ensure balanced regional development; Adopt special development package for North Eastern region with emphasis on infrastructure and industrial development like power, railways, telecommunications, oil refining etc.; Provide Government jobs to militancy affected youth in Jammu & Kashmir and North East.

For Rural Youth

• Expand the scope of the NREGA to all individuals (not only to households) and enhance the cap of 100 days; Increase minimum wages to at least Rs. 160/- per day and ensure regular wage payment; Expand the schedule of permissible works to include individual beneficiary schemes, social services, etc.; Delegate decision making powers about the type of  
• Appoint local persons on a regular basis as village employment assistants or Rozgar Sevaks; Pay unemployment allowance to job card holders not given work; Combat corruption in NREGA implementation.
• Enact comprehensive legislation for agricultural workers ensuring minimum wages and social security; Link minimum wages to inflation index.
• Implement recommendations of National Commission on Farmers on creation of skilled jobs in agriculture through horticulture, energy plantations, animal husbandry, biomass utilization etc; Set up Farm Schools in all village panchayats for training and skill development of young cultivators; Promote agro processing industries in rural areas through small enterprises, cooperatives and Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
• Amend the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and enact a Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in order to minimize displacement and ensure adequate compensation, sharing of profit and livelihood security for land losers and displaced persons; Amend SEZ Act to curb real estate bubbles and tax concessions; Strictly regulate land use to prevent land hoarding and speculation and promote employment intensive industrialisation.

For Tribal Youth

• Ensure remunerative employment opportunities in tribal areas through NREGA; Strengthen public procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP) for minor forest produce and coarse cereals; Strengthen TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd.) and facilitate local level processing and value addition of tribal Initiate intensive socio-economic development programmes in tribal areas through expansion of PDS outlets, schools, colleges and hostels (especially for girls), training institutes, health centres, expansion of credit, irrigation, roads, power, telecommunication, market infrastructure, extension services etc.
• Implement ST reservations in all posts and services; Extend ST reservations to the private sector; Remove anomalies and exclusions in notifying tribes as Scheduled to ensure all deserving groups are included; Act against issuers and receivers of  
• Recognize and vest forest rights for tribals, distribute pattas speedily and implement fully the provisions of the ST and OFD (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act; Assign government barren and waste lands to landless tribals; Provide homestead land and housing 
• Prevent tribal land alienation; Implement Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act; Strengthen gram sabhas in tribal areas; Implement 5^th & 6^th schedule provisions and declare autonomous councils in tribal districts. 

For Urban Youth

• Initiate Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme at minimum wages with one-third jobs reserved for women; Bring public works and infrastructure projects in urban areas under the employment guarantee; Provide BPL cards to all unemployed persons and poor informal workers; Stop forcible eviction of slum dwellers, street vendors etc.; Ensure proper rehabilitation of displaced persons.
• Universalize social security; Amend central legislation to provide for provident fund, pension, health insurance, accident benefit and death benefits for all workers in the unorganized sector (not only BPL) as per the recommendation of the NCEUS (National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector); Set up National Social Security Fund to finance unorganised sector social security schemes; Implement 8 hours working day for all unorganised sector workers; Strictly implement minimum wages and link them to inflation index.
• Enact comprehensive legislation for protecting the lives and livelihoods of migrant informal workers including pravasis; Impose strict punishment for anti-migrant violence and compensate victims; Issue identity cards for migrant workers to ensure access  
•  Launch national level programme on Employment Assurance and Skill Formation as per NCEUS recommendation to provide 6 months assured training and apprenticeship to all willing youth; Expand vocational training institutes like Polytechnics, ITI and ITCs and implement affirmative action in private training institutes; Initiate certificate 
• Revamp and modernise employment exchanges; Provide unemployment allowance to the registered unemployed; Integrate Employment exchanges with skill development initiatives and provide information on private sector jobs too; Launch Government sponsored job portal (website) to disseminate information about employment opportunities in the public as well as  Enhance financial support for self-employment schemes, SHGs and small enterprises, especially for small women entrepreneurs; Provide cheap credit, training, promote quality control and certification/branding for products of self-employed run enterprises; Check corruption in self-employment schemes.