50,000 railway stations across India witness demonstrations by India’s peasantry!

Around 50,000 railway stations across India witnessed demonstrations by trade worker unions on March 15, 2021 Anti-Privatisation Day to protest the anti-people policies of the central government.

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) General Secretary Tapan Sen told SabrangIndia that all states across India sent in reports of demonstrations outside railway stations and public sector companies, in addition to the demonstrations held in front of public sector banks. In some areas, protests continued on till Monday evening to decry the central government’s plans to privatise the public sector and to corporatise sectors like agriculture by introducing new farm laws.

“CITU congratulates bank employees and officers for the complete strike of public sector banks. CITU also congratulates the workers, farmers, agricultural labourers for the successful observance of Anti-Privatisation Anti-Corporatisation Day with the support of people from all walks of life. The call was given jointly by the Joint Platform of CTUs and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha,” said the union in a press release.

Similarly, farmer leaders also joined the agitations outside New Delhi railway station where All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) Finance Secretary Krishna Prasad and CITU Delhi General Secretary Anurag Saxena spoke against labour codes, the three farm laws – the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act – and a demand for legalisation of Minimum Support Price (MSP).

In Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, a protest meeting was held in front of Central Electronics. CTUs and SKM leaders addressed the meeting. States like West Bengal, Assam, Telangana and Punjab were some of the places where farmers and peasants came together to decry the central government’s laws.

Specifically in Punjab, Contract Employees Struggle Morcha leaders participated at the district and tehsil-level in response to trade unions’ calls. State leaders such as Varinder Singh Momi demanded that both central and state governments should back away from privatisation policy.

“The central and state government are forcing unnecessary catastrophic changes in the new labor and agricultural laws in the name of economic reforms under the imperialist guidelines and new economic policies. All government institutions like government thermal, electricity, water, health, education, transport, insurance, banks, airports, etc., have already been set up by the central government to give huge benefits to corporate houses,” said the workers union.

This agitation against privatisation will be continued on March 16 as well by bank employees who have long since been voicing their distress regarding the privatisation of PSUs. As per a joint workers pamphlet, March 17 will observe a general insurance strike and March 18 will witness a strike by LIC employees.

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