Dear Comrades and Friends,
I send all of you heartfelt greetings and wish this year the coming months of this year will bring further successes in our common struggle against privatisation of public sector enterprises.
The Central Government is stepping up its attacks on the workers and peasants and it is against this that the All-India Strike of February 12th, 2026 was organised by the Central Trade Unions, independent federations and Samyukta Kisan Morcha.
Apart from the Labour codes, the Central Government is trying to pass the Electricity Amendment Bill 2025 and the Seed bill. It has passed the SHANTI Act and the 100% FDI in Insurance Act and all of these are for the benefit of the big monopoly corporates, both Indian and Foreign.
Our Website gave extensive coverage to the February 12th, 2026 strike action and we published strike notices received from Electricity, NTPC, Banks, Insurance, Steel, Port and Docks, Defense, Coal, Steel, Petroleum, Central Government, BSNL, Posts, HAL, BHEL, Bharat Electronics, Bharat Dyanmics, Midhani etc.
AIFAP membership now stands at 132 organisations. At the beginning of last year, it was 116, indicating a nearly 15% growth in membership. The member federations, unions and associations are from more than 15 different sectors including Railways, Electricity, State Government Employees, Banking, Insurance, Coal, Petroleum, Steel, Port and Dock, Defense (DRDO) and Defense public sector units, Air India, BSNL, Road Transport, Shipping, Sailors, Teachers, Nurses and Organisations for restoration of Old Pension Scheme as well as Joint Action Fronts and people’s organisations.
The AIFAP website (www.aifap.org.in) is the most active and widely seen website in India for struggles of workers.
During the past year 2025 All India Forum Against Privatisation (AIFAP) has successfully contributed to the struggles to oppose privatisation in Uttar Pradesh DISCOMS, Indian Railways, IDBI and Electricity Amendment Bill 2025 and the struggle against the labour codes. I would like to give a brief account of the work that AIFAP has carried out in the last one year as our contribution to opposing the privatisation of public sector enterprises which have been built with the hard work of workers and people’s money. AIFAP had organised 5 National online webinars after every major attack by the Central or State Governments to privatise public enterprises. These webinars were attended by up to and more than 500 people. AIFAP also organised a physical meeting in New Delhi on April 15, 2025.
In December 2024, the BJP led State Government in Uttar Pradesh announced the handing over of two major distribution companies in Uttar Pradesh, the Purvanchal and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam which are under the State Government of Uttar Pradesh to private corporations. These two discoms supply electricity to more than 50% of the population of Uttar Pradesh. Against this decision, AIFAP organised its first national online meeting of the year on February 2nd, 2025. This meeting was attended by more than 500 people from all over India and was addressed by the National leaders of Electricity Employees as well as Defense, NMOPS, Insurance and Railway workers. At this meeting it was proposed that AIFAP should organise a physical meeting in New Dehi to take the struggle against privatisation of electricity and other sectors forward.
Accordingly, a meeting was held at the Constitution Club, New Delhi on April 15, 2025. 29 organisations from Electricity, Railways, Banking, Insurance, BSNL, Teachers, National Confederation of Officers and organisations of people took part in the day long deleberations. The leaders of these organisations came from all over India, from Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bhopal, Jhansi. Jaipur, Kanpur, Bareilly and Sambalpur (Orissa) to attend this important conference. This Conference adopted resolutions against privatisation of electricity and other sectors.
The second national online meeting was held on July 20th ,2025, against the circular issued by the Railway Board, to appoint workers and engineers on a two-year contract basis in the S&T Department of the Indian Railways (IR). The S&T Department is a critical safety department of Indian Railways and the work is of a highly technical nature. It requires two years for a fresh recruit to understand the complex interlock mechanisms, the gears and signalling system, and to appoint workers and engineers on contract basis in such departments is endangering the safety of passengers as well as railway employees. National Leaders of 9 Associations/Unions including all the category associations in the safety department of Indian Railways and IREF addressed this meeting. After this meeting a joint memorandum signed by all these railway federations/unions was sent to the Chairman Railway Board demanding immediate withdrawal of the circular and filling the nearly 2 lakh vacancies in the safety category.
The third national online meeting was held on August 10th, 2025 against the Government of India’s decision to sell IDBI bank, a profit-making public sector-bank to private monopoly corporates. This meeting was addressed by the National leaders of all the bank unions as well as LIC union and attended by more than 300 people.
The fourth national online meeting was held on November 9th, 2025, against the Government of India’s Electricity Amendment Bill (EAB) 2025. This meeting was addressed by the National leaders of Electricity Employees, Defense, People’s Organisations and Railways and attended by nearly 400 people.
The fifth national online meeting was held on December 7th 2025, against the notification of the 4 labour codes by the government of India. This meeting was addressed by the National leaders of the Central Trade Unions and attended by nearly 400 people.
In the past year there have been massive protests against the anti-worker policies adopted by the Central Government. AIFAP has given wide coverage to these protests and this has helped the struggle to gain momentum. For example, during the All-India Strike of July 9th 2025, AIFAP gave extensive coverage to the strike actions in all the sectors.
In addition to the above, AIFAP has been regularly publishing news of struggles of Electricity, Railways, Defense Sector, Bank, Insurance, Port and Docks, Post, Coal, Steel, Road Transport, Central and State Government Employees etc.
Broadly we can confidently say that AIFAP continues to fulfil the objectives for which it was formed and has become a platform which is contributing to strengthening the ongoing struggle against privatisation of public sector enterprises.
The struggle against privatisation is part of the overall struggle of our people against the anti-worker, anti-people policies of the government. These policies are being implemented on behalf of the big monopoly corporates and the aim of these policies are to enable these corporates to grow richer by grabbing people’s assets and squeezing the workers to extract maximum labour with minimum pay.
While we continue to fight against the attacks that are being made on the working class every day, we must also ask ourselves and discuss some important issues and questions about the present system.
Firstly, privatisation is not a policy only of the present BJP government. Ever since the policy of globalisation through privatisation and liberalisation was launched by the then Congress government in 1991-92, every government at the Centre and in most states has tried to implement it in different ways.
It is evident that while in the opposition, various parties raise a hue and cry against the government’s anti-people, anti-worker policies, but once they form the government, they betray the people. So also, governments time and again go against written promises that they have made in the face of people’s struggles. The promises made to the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha, as well as the one about not implementing the Electricity Bill are just a few such examples.
Should betrayal of crores of people not be liable for punishment?
Why do we the people have no say in deciding laws and policies or in repealing anti-democratic and repressive laws?
Why do we have no say about deciding how the money collected by the government from the people by way of tax be spent?
How are the elected representatives totally unaccountable to the electors?
Is it the rule of the people that prevails in our country or that of the capitalist class?
If that is the case, it follows that while we fight our day-to-day struggles in a better, more untied way, we should fight with the perspective of replacing the rule of capitalists by that of the toilers – the workers and peasants!
AIFAP has been built and strengthened due to the active support of all of you. I am sure with your continued active support it will be further built and further strengthened with more members joining and with increased viewership of our website.
With warmest greetings,
Dr. A. Mathew,
Convenor,
All India Forum Against Privatisation (AIFAP)