CPM expressed deep grief at passing away of Shyamali Gupta

She fell ill at AIDWA All India Conference Bodh Gaya
Monday, November 25, 2013:The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep grief at the passing away of Shyamali Gupta, member of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the All India Democratic Women’s Association till recently.  Shyamali Gupta fell ill at the AIDWA All India Conference held in Bodh Gaya and died after she returned to Kolkata. She was 68 years old.

Comrade Shyamali Gupta

Shyamali Gupta joined the Communist Party in 1963 after being active in the student movement. She played an important role in the Bengal Provincial Students Federation.

After a stint as a college teacher, Shyamali Gupta began work in the women’s movement in the 1970s.  She became the key organizer of the Ganatantrik Mahila Samiti. She was elected as its General Secretary in 1983 and served in that capacity till 1996. 
Shyamali Gupta became the All India General Secretary of the AIDWA in 1990 and played a major role in the development of the women’s movement at the national level.  She  was elected as the President of the AIDWA in 2010, a post she held till the eve of her death. 

Shyamali Gupta was a dedicated Communist leader.  She became a member of the West Bengal State Committee in 1985 and was a member of the State Secretariat from 2010. She was elected to the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 2002. 

As a women Communist leader, Shyamali Gupta made a valuable contribution to the development of the democratic women’s movement.  She served the Communist Party with devotion and sincerity for five decades.  Her death is a big loss for the Party and the women’s movement.

The Polit Bureau conveys its heartfelt condolences to her son and other family members. 

AITUC again exposed the anti peoples policies of UPA-2

Com Gurudas Das Gupta–MP was the main speaker

Ludhiana: 22 November 2013: (Rector Kathuria//Punjab Screen): The workers in our country have to meet dual challenge of saving the social fabric of the society by fighting against the communal & divisive forces as well as to save the country from economic onslaught by the multinational corporations, this was said by Com Gurudas Das Gupta–MP and General Secretary All Indian Trade Union Congress (AITUC) while addressing a convention here at Punjabi Bhawan today. The UPA-II Govt. is increasingly working in the interest of big corporate business houses of India and the international cartels undermining the national interest. Latest decisions of the Govt. are enough indicators of the rightist shift in the policies detrimental to Indian growth and progress based on justice and equality. These are against the basic spirit of the Indian constitution which speaks of justice and equality as its mainstay.  The Govt. is more inclined to respond to the demands of the international finance capital and the MNCs while hitting the common man hard, even denying them basic amenities like food, shelter, health and education. Therefore there is an urgent need for the working people to unite in strength to lead the struggle against these policies so as to meet the goal of sustainable development in the interest of all the people of the country, he said. On that score, the job insecurity and the job losses on the one hand and increased trends of contractorization and outsourcing,  contractualisation and casualisation of labour is norm of the day. There is attack on unionization itself and pressure on existing unions to suppress and intimidate them to contain their activities. Bringing in FDI  in retail trade will be big blow to more than 4 crore small traders, shopkeepers, marginal and poor farmers, other small producers of goods in home based and small scale industries etc. The government has been responsible for unprecedented rise in corruption at higher places with loss to national revenue and denial of rightful share of common people in the wealth being produced in the country. He further deplored that accumulation of wealth in the hands of few, whereas the vast majority is suffering under acute poverty and unemployment. The latest reports have indicated that 100 top rich families own assets to the tune of 16 lakh crores of rupees whereas 70% Indians are forced to live on meager spending of Rs.16.60 paise per day. With the policies being pursued will further hasten these gaps. 

He said, the govt. continues to act in ruthless manner against the common people and the response to people’s agitations by the Prime minister and some of his ministers are arrogant to the core. Corruption at the higher places has become rampant which is obvious  from the scandal like 2-G Spectrum. The Gas price hike in connivance with the Ambanis will cost a loss of nearly 2.20 lakh crores to the exchequer, he highlighted.

Taking advantage of this situation the rabidly communal RSS and BJP have floated Modi as their Prime ministerial candidate. This is a very serious danger before the nation which the workers have to fight back tooth and nail.

In this background the Trade Unions have decided to intensify their joint agitations and march to Parliament on 12th December 2013 on the charter of demands which includes seeking check on price rise of essential commodities, end to labour law violations, for social security and pension to all workers, abolition of any ceiling on Provident Fund, gratuity and bonus, abolition of contract labour, steady regularization of them and equal pay for equal work, no disinvestment of public sector/ govt. sector enterprises and resources, national minimum wage to be raised to not less that Rs. 10,000, universal entitlement of maternity benefit to working women etc.

Addressing the gathering Com Bant Singh Brar - President  and Com Nirmal Dhaliwal - General Secretary of Punjab unit of AITUC said that the state govt. of Punjab is not following a different course as regards the economic policies in general are concerned. Rather it has been taking anti labour and anti farmer measures. They informed that several more conventions will be held in the state on these issues, where Com Gurudas Dass Gupta MP, General Secretary AITUC will address.

Today’s convention was attended by representatives of various organisations of workers and employees from Construction, Hosiery, Roadways, PRTC, Banks, Power sector, FCI Palledar, University, PSSF, Govt. Class 4 employees, Corporation, BSNL, ASHA workers  and unorganized sector.

Com Kartar Singh Bowani – Vice President Punjab Kisan Sabha also addressed the gathering.

Com O P Mehta General Secretary AITUC Ludhiana and Com D P Maur, General Secretary Joint Council of Trade Unions Ludhiana assured that they will participate in large number in the march to parliament at Delhi on 12th December 2013.

AITUC meet at Ludhiana: A grand success

Com Gurudas Das Gupta, MP Calls upon the workers

Illegal Surveillance In Gujarat

Saturday, November 16, 2013
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
The release of tape recorded conversations between top Narendra Modi aide and BJP leader Amit Shah and a senior police officer who was then Superintendent of the Gujarat anti-terrorist squad regarding the illegal surveillance mounted against a young woman on the orders of “saheb” raises serious questions once again about the state of civil liberties in Gujarat.

To use the powers of the State and further to use the anti-terrorist squad to snoop on the private life of a young woman, to follow her every movement, to snoop also on her other family members and friends, shows the utterly unethical and illegal practices and degeneration of the minimum norms of democratic governance under Modi.

The Gujarat Government must take immediate action against Shah and the police officers for violating the Indian Telegraph Act. They also have to be prosecuted for the crime of stalking under the recently amended provisions of the IPC related to crimes against women.

However it is well known that for Amit Shah there is only one Saheb and that is Modi. What was Modi’s interest in the matter? In a case involving the Chief Minister it would be appropriate for a court investigation into Modi’s involvement and if found to be involved, he must be prosecuted.

Press Statements by CPI (M) Polit Bureau

 Sep 25, 2013 12:31 PM
The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) has issued the following statements:

Ordinance OpposedThe Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) opposes the ordinance regarding the disqualification of sitting Members of Parliament and State Legislators.  The UPA government is repeatedly using the ordinance route  which is undemocratic.  The matter regarding the disqualification of elected  members  who are convicted should have been discussed in Parliament and appropriate steps taken.
Enquiry into Funding in J & K
The reports that a unit of military intelligence has financed certain ministers in Jammu & Kashmir  has serious implications for the democratic political process.  The Central government should institute a credible enquiry into the matter.
Judgement Welcomed
The Polit Bureau welcomes the judgement of the Supreme Court that the Aadhar Unique Identity cannot be made mandatory for receiving social benefit schemes.  The government has been illegally instituting the cash transfer schemes and identification of beneficiaries of social welfare schemes based on the Aadhar identity.eom.

Three Days Dharna in front of the GMT office Ldh

Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 5:55 PM
The Nation wide call given by the united forum 

Ludhiana: 22 Aug 2013:(Rector Kathuria for Comrade Screen):Three Days Dharna in front of the GMT office BSNL Ludhiana by the Activists of BSNL Employees Union and National Federation of Telecom BSNL Employees Ludhiana entered in Day 2nd Today. The Nation wide call for demonstration was given by the united forum of unions, demanding immediate settlement of following long pending Demands:
Addressing the gathering Com. Balbir Singh, Circle Secretary, BSNLU Punjab told that the Govt. is deliberately denying their justified demands. Most of the demands are accepted by the BSNL Management but no action to implementation of the same has been taken so far. The BSNL management is evading the genuine demands of the staff and deliberately delaying the implementation of the decisions taken in the past. He also told that the Dharna in Punjab Circle is highly successful and massive numbers of members are participating in the Dharna. 
Com. Balwinder Singh, District Secretary BSNLEU Ludhiana told that the management of BSNL is curtailing the various facilities extended to the staff one by one. Leave travel concession has been freezed, facility of fix medical allowance has been withdrawn. He demanded immediate restoration of LTC and Medical facility all the demands contained in the demand charter. He further said that they will intensify the struggle if the demands are accepted.  
Com. S.P. Singh, Circle Secy, and Com Pritam Chand Distt. Secy, National Federation of Telecom BSNL Employees said that while the Employees of BSNL are working hard for the revival of BSNL, the management is discouraging the employees by curtailing the facilities. 
 Others who spoken on the occasion includes Com. Budh Singh, Circle Treasurer, Com. Paramjit Singh District President, Com. Avtar Singh Jhande , Asstt. District Secretary BSNLEU Ludhiana Com. Amarjit Chander, District Treasurer, Com. Jaswant Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Surinder Singh, Surjit Singh, Avtar Singh Focal Point, Tejinder Singh,  Avtar Singh Sudhar, Braham Dass, Sudesh Joshi, Amrik Singh, Jogesh Kumar, Narinder Singh Doraha, Sohan Singh Khanna, Avtar Singh Dehlon, Gurmukh Singh Samrala,  Balwant Singh Dugri, Jag Parshad Mullanpur, V.K. Kalia and Chaman Lal Admn Branch. 
The Dharna will be continued on 23-08-2013 also. 

AITUC meet at Ludhiana: A grand success

Com Gurudas Das Gupta, MP Calls upon the workers
Lead the fight against policies of the govt.
AITUC meet described the policies as Anti people & pro-corporate 

The UPA-II Govt. is increasingly working in the interest of big corporate business houses of India and the international cartels undermining the national interest. Latest decisions of the Govt. are enough indicators of the rightist shift in the policies detrimental to Indian growth and progress based on justice and equality. These are against the basic spirit of the Indian constitution which speaks of justice and equality as its mainstay.  The Govt. is more inclined to respond to the demands of the international finance capital and the MNCs while hitting the common man hard, even denying them basic amenities like food, shelter, health and education.  Therefore there is an urgent need for the working people to unite in strength to lead the struggle against these policies so as to meet the goal of sustainable development in the interest of all the people of the country. This was stated by Com. Gurudas Das Gupta, Member Parliament and General Secretary All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) while addressing the 19th State Conference of AITUC at Punjabi Bhawan Ludhiana today. On that score, the job insecurity and the job losses on the one hand and increased trends of contractorization and outsourcing,  contractualisation and casualisation of labour on the other hand is norm of the day. There is attack on unionization itself and pressure on existing unions to suppress and intimidate them to contain their activities. Bringing in FDI in retail trade is a virtual sale out of small business to the foreign companies. It will be big blow to more than 4 crore small traders, shopkeepers, marginal and poor farmers, other small producers of goods in home based and small scale industries etc. Recent announcement of 100% FDI in Telecom and raising of FDI limit in oil sector would further lead to perpetuate the economic crisis.  The government has been responsible for unprecedented rise in corruption at higher places with loss to national revenue and denial of rightful share of common people in the wealth being produced in the country. He further deplored that accumulation of wealth in the hands of few, whereas the vast majority is suffering under acute poverty and unemployment. The latest reports have indicated that 100 top rich families own assets to the tune of 16 lakh crores of rupees whereas 70% Indians are forced to live on meager spending of Rs.16.60 paise per day. With the policies being pursued will further hasten these gaps. 

He said, the govt. continues to act in ruthless manner against the common people and the response to people’s agitations by the Prime minister and some of his ministers are arrogant to the core.  The government’s announcement that only 21.9% of the population lives below poverty line is a shear mockery. How can anyone earning Rs.33.00 per day is above poverty line he asked. In this background he said, the trade unions have come out with their strategies to fight the attacks of government on working people. The successful two days strike by all the Central Trade Unions on 20-21 February,in which independent federations, associations and other independent trade unions also participated, first ever such action in the independent India have shown the unity among the working class and is a big challenge before the government.
Com Amarjeet Kaur – National  Secretary AITUC in her speech said that the workers charter of demands includes seeking check on price rise of essential commodities, end to labour law violations, for social security and pension to all workers, abolition of any ceiling on Provident Fund, gratuity and bonus, abolition of contract labour, steady regularization of them and equal pay for equal work, no disinvestment of public sector/ govt. sector enterprises and resources, national minimum wage to be raised to not less that Rs. 10,000, universal entitlement of maternity benefit to working women etc.

Comrade D L Sachdev in his greetings  called upon the unions to prepare for the next round of proposed joint agitations which includes campaign on demands at grass root level to be followed by massive rallies in the state capitals on 25th September and then a march to parliament on 12th December to be adopted in a joint national convention of Trade Unions to be held on 6th August 2013 at New Delhi.
Addressing the conference Com Bant Singh Brar – President and Com Nirmal Dhaliwal - General Secretary of Punjab unit of AITUC said that the state govt. of Punjab is not following a different course as regards the economic policies in general are concerned. Rather it has been taking anti labour and anti farmer measures more aggressively.  There is increase in the unemployment and due to contractualisation of jobs the real wages of the workers in the state have come down. The workers protests are being crushed by using the police force. AITUC will resist all this.
The conference began with hoisting of AITUC flag by veteran trade unionist Com O P Mehta.
The conference was attended by over 250 delegates from various sections from different parts of the state. The conference elected Com Bant Singh Brar as president and Com Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal  as general secretary. It also elected a  working committee to run the affairs for the coming period.
Earlier Dr.Arun Mitra – Chairman Reception Committee welcomed the delegates.  A reception committee with Dr Arun Mitra as Chairman, Com O P Mehta as President and Com D P Maur as General Secretary worked day and night to make the event successful.
Today’s conference was attended by the elected delegates of various organisations of workers and employees from all over the Punjab. They included workers from different industries, Hosiery, Textile, Construction, Roadways, PRTC, Corporations, BSNL, Banks, Power sector, FCI Palledar, University, PSSF, Govt. Class 4 employees, Khet Mazdoor, MANREGA Workers, ASHA workers Anganwadi workers and other unorganized sector.

Com Gurudas Das Gupta, MP Calls upon the workers

AITUC again exposed the anti peoples policies of UPA-2

Six day workshop on cooperatives in agriculture

Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 12:16 AM

Comrade A.B. Bardhan will give his opening remarks

Dear All

Joshi-Adhkari Institute of Social Studies invites you to attend the inaugural session of a six day workshop on "National and International experiences of Cooperatives in Agriculture." The workshop is being organized as a follow up of a primary survey of marginal farmers conducted by the institute in eight states of India. The purpose of the workshop is to discuss the possible role of cooperatives in bringing about a change in agrarian relations.

In the inaugural session veteran Communist leader A.B. Bardhan will give his opening remarks and the eminent economist Prof. Prabhat Patnaik will deliver the key note address on "Necessity of Cooperatives in the alternative development paradigm."

The workshop will begin with an analysis of agrarian crisis, a discussion on the question of land and water, and the necessity and feasibility of small farmers' collectives. This will be followed by a three day long detailed review of Indian experience of service and production cooperatives in agriculture and allied sector. In the next three days, experts from other countries would share experiences of their respective countries. The countries chosen for reviewing the international experiences are Spain from Europe, Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Africa from Africa, and China, Vietnam and Nepal from Asia, and Venezuela and Cuba from Latin America.

Academics, scholars, and activists working in rural areas are coming to participate in the workshop. The participants are supposed to stay for the entire period of the workshop and think about the potential of cooperative structures to fight against agrarian crisis. The sessions will be interactive and followed by cultural programmes in some evenings.

Please do come.

Time               :           10.00 am to 12.30 am

Date                :           18^th March 2013, Monday.

Venue             :           Hindi Bhawan, 11, Rauz Avenue, On ITO-Bal Bhawan Road, Delhi.

Ajay Patnaik, Vineet Tiwari

Contact: 9811588100, 9818175205