From Our Special Correspondent
Silchar, Jan 15: At a joint mass convention of the various left central trade union bodies, federations, farmers’ organizations, student, youth and women cells engaged in various fields of activities held at the rsingtola ground here recently, a declaration was made to commit themselves to the resolutions of New Delhi meet. The three day Delhi convention in the second part of November last deliberated over 12 point all India based demands and 4 crucial issues of this region for their resolutions by creating pressure on the Union Government. According to a spokesperson of the trade union bodies, though thousands of employees and workers vented out their grievances and demonstrated in New Delhi, the Central Government preferred to sidetrack them.
It was unimously decided by all the fronts of the left trade union bodies that there was no way out than to launch vigorous and mass movement across the country against the Union Government. It was further decided that to take forward their movement in a most effective manner a ‘jail bharo’ move along with local issue based protest demonstration across the country would be taken up. A general appeal has been reached out to the people in general to extend all their help and cooperation to make the movement a success.
One of the pressing demands taken up is the immediate resuscitation of paper mills at Panchgram and Jagi Road, besides improvement of the tiol highways and the network of roads of the state, enhancement of the daily wages of tea workers at the minimum rate of Rs.350 per day. The convention made open the 16 point charter of demands and impressed upon the various fronts to unite and make the movement a success. The demands include check on escalating prices of essential commodities, fair and proper PDS as well as reining in the black marketers and profiteers.
The declaration at the convention forcefully argued for orderly execution of employment policy in order to ease jobless problem, implementation of labour laws strictly and cancelling the amendment of the labour law in favour of employers, besides ensuring social security to the workers and employees. Minimum remuneration of Rs.18,000 be fixed for anganwadi and midday meal workers and minimum pension of Rs.3,000 be paid to all the workers. The convention at the same time called for ceiling on bonus and provident fund and increase the amount of gratuity. It also opposed the move of the government for FDI in defence, rail and insurance sectors. Most important, the convention focused on the annual scourges of floods in Assam and demanded effective protective measures.