Message by Com. A. Sreekumar, General Secretary, All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF)
The 17th National Conference of AISGEF held at Begusarai, Bihar from 13 to 16 April, 2022 decided to intensify the struggle against these anti-people policies. We also decided to observe 28 May, 2022 as ‘Demands Day’ on the below given demands.
DEMANDS’ DAY
28TH MAY, 2022
- Regularise all ‘Contractual / Outsourced Daily Waged’ employees;
- Scrap PFRDA; Enrol all subscribers under NPS to Defined Benefit Pension System;
- Stop privatisation of Public Sector Undertakings and downsizing of Government Departments; Give up National Monetisation Programme;
- Stop Communalism; Save Secularism;
- Repeal Article 310, 311(2) (a), (b), (c) of the Constitution; Ensure Democratic Trade Union rights to employees;
- Abandon the New Education Policy;
- Control price rise; Strengthen the Universal Public Distribution System.
Dear friends,
Humanity is now going through a very difficult situation. Capitalist exploitation is manifesting its worst form. Even in the midst of the pandemic, corporate capitalist forces are looking relentlessly for profit. In India, too, the entire wealth of the country is being plundered and the rights of the working people taken away by the nexus between the Union Government and the corporates.
The Modi government, which has been in power for the last seven and a half years, is rapidly and steadfastly implementing the neo-liberal policies. As part of this, all public sector enterprises in the country, including in strategic areas, have been privatized. Attempts to pass the Electricity Amendment Bill, which seeks to privatise the power sector, in the last session of the Parliament were unsuccessful due to labor protests. Attempts at selling off PSUs have not fully succeeded but all public assets in the country are being transferred to the private sector for small sums. The National Monetization Pipeline (NMP) aims at raising Rupees Six lakh crore over the next four years from sale of PSUs.
The Union government is weakening the Central Civil Service by implementing the neo-liberal policies. What the government doing was that all the Centrally Sponsored Projects have been reduced to Schemes and the relevance of the departments has been shrunk. It was decided that only contractual appointments would be sufficient for the implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes. All regular appointments have been stopped. There are nine lakh vacancies in the Central Service. Apart from this, there are three lakh vacancies in the Railways alone. Group ‘D’ posts were abolished following the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission. Appointments are being made on contract basis to higher posts also.
The Union Government is taking a negative approach to the demand for withdrawal of the National Pension Scheme. The government has increased its stake in NPS to 14 per cent to facilitate more corporate looting. The Union Government is seeking to separate the NPS Trust, which manages deposits and assets under the National Pension Scheme, from the PFRDA.
Although education is on the Concurrent List, the Union Government has formulated the National Education Policy unilaterally without consulting the States. Actually, the new education policy aims at complete privatization and communalisation of the whole of education system.
Unemployment rate has been growing since the advent of neo-liberal policies and has further worsened. The purchasing power of the Indian people has sharply declined, leading to the contraction of domestic demand. The cruel attacks on the livelihood of common people and cuts in social welfare schemes have escalated. The price of essential commodities is sky rocketing day by day. Despite the low and falling price of crude oil in the international market, the Oil Companies have been hiking the fuel prices regularly.
The working class today is facing a challenging situation because of the increasing attacks by the ruling classes on the life, livelihood and rights of the workers and common people. To get rid of these precarious conditions all sections of working class and toiling mass should join hands to resist these anti-people neoliberal policies.
The union government is using the religious temperament and exploiting these thoughts against the fights of the toiling masses. The governments are resorting to all manoeuvres to divide the society. Communal venom is spread to divide the people on religious lines on the one hand and to divert their attention from the basic issues of their lives and livelihood on the other. The Preamble of the Constitution asserts that India is a Secular Nation. But the secular values of the country are in great danger, and the union government is trying to undermine the secular character of the country by trying to impose its regressive thoughts.
The 17th National Conference of AISGEF held at Begusarai, Bihar from 13 to 16 April, 2022 decided to intensify the struggle against these anti-people policies. We also decided to observe 28 May, 2022 as ‘Demands Day’ on the above issues.
As part of it, it is proposed to conduct sit in Dharnas in all District Headquarters.
You are requested to attend the program.
– Com. A. Sreekumar,
General Secretary,
All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF)