Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) Correspondent
The activists of the Maharashtra Rajya Veej Karmachari, Abhiyanta, Adhikari Sangharsh Samiti, Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation, Bharatiya Mahila Federation (Thane Samiti) and Kamgar Ekta Committee got a big thumbs up from the thousands of commuters at Thane station on the evening of Saturday, 10th December at Thane station. A joint demonstration was organised by the above organisations against the government’s attempts to privatise the highly profitable parts of the power sector, a sector built up over the decades through people’s money (from taxes) and the toil of generations of electricity workers. A large number of activists had come together, shouting slogans, distributing leaflets in Hindi, Marathi and English displaying banners and posters. (Leaflet attached)
The fact that the issue was close to people’s hearts was evident from the following facts:
- Many stopped and asked for leaflets
- Not a single leaflet was thrown
- Many people expressed their appreciation for the campaign and asked how they could help
- The shy first timer activists grew in confidence, so much so that by the end they looked like seasoned campaigners.
- Several people stopped by to take photos, and even before the campaign ended, congratulatory messages started coming in from all over the country.
Several people stopped by to discuss the issue further activists. To the 2-3 people who said that privatisation would bring in efficiency, just a simple question was asked. “Would the big corporates be efficient in serving the people or grabbing as much profit as they can?” The answer became obvious even to them.
“Who do these corporates think they are? Their hunger for profit can never be satisfied. Now they want to gobble up our electricity as well!” This was from an activist of LIC who happened to pass by.
Many people expressed their opposition to the ruling as well as opposition parties and said that we can depend only upon our unity to solve our problems.
At the end it was decided to hold this campaign in as many places as possible.
