New Democracy June 2019
New Democracy June 2019
CC Statement on 2019 Lok Sabha Elections blast killing CRPF personnel. RSS-BJP Govt. has predictably used people’s
struggle in Kashmir, the only Muslim majority ‘province’ in the country, to
Cultural Movement
leaders will come under further attacks. RSS-BJP have increased their
strength in Rajya Sabha and NDA will gain majority in that House as well in
the coming year. They have brought different state institutions under their
control and even higher judiciary is full of compromised individuals and On May 5, 2019 at about 2 PM, a leading figure of the Revolutionary
may not offer much resistance. Hence this phase demands more vigorous Cultural Movement in the country breathed his last in Hyderabad. He had
efforts to counter fascist offensive. suffered a stroke on May 4 and was rushed to a hospital. However, the
next day, while in hospital, he suffered another attack and collapsed. Com.
1. Forge and develop unity of communist revolutionary forces Rama Rao was President of Arunodaya Andhra Pradesh and Co-convenor
and people’s movements, struggles of oppressed sections and other of the All India Co-ordination Committee of Cultural Organizations. Com.
democratic forces against the intensifying fascist offensive. Rama Rao was a member of the Andhra Pradesh Provincial Committee of
2. Build and develop struggles of peasants and workers, CPI(ML)-New Democracy. Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy
students and youth, oppressed castes, tribals, minorities and pays its homage to the revolutionary memory of Com. Rama Rao. His
women. Move to broaden base among all these classes and untimely death is a big loss to the communist revolutionary movement,
sections and draw them into struggles. particularly to the revolutionary cultural movement.
3. Strengthen democratic rights movement and organizations. Com. Rama Rao was born on July 1, 1955 in Mulgavali village in Kurnool
Strengthen protection of legal rights. District. From early life he became active in the revolutionary movement.
Cultural work attracted him since childhood. Gifted with a melodious voice
4. Organize youth against unemployment & other issues and and developing the art of modulating with ease, grace and on a wide scale,
students against attacks on educational institutions. Com. Rama Rao was easily one of the best singers of revolutionary songs.
5. Participate in and forge close relations with struggles of He also penned a number of revolutionary songs and plays.
people with approach of building broad based resistance to fascist Com. Rama Rao from his childhood, sensitive as he was, reacted to
offensive. the class and caste oppression in his village and the area. He was among
6. Adapt organizational forms to meet the requirement of the the first educated in his community. He belonged to an oppressed section.
present situation and needs of struggle. Drawn to the revolutionary movement he got involved in the state wide
revolutionary cultural work when he came in contact with Com. Kanuri
Venkateshwar Rao. His grooming in performing art though predates his
(This statement was issued by the Central
involvement in revolutionary culture and he was known in the area for his
Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy on May rendering of traditional songs. Since 1974, he started singing and writing
25, 2019) revolutionary songs, artfully depicting the reality of oppression and will to
struggle. Com. Rama Rao was one of the founders of Arunodaya Cultural
Federation when it was formed.
Com. Rama Rao remained, throughout his life, steadfast in his
commitment to the revolutionary movement and committed to leading
In Memory of Rama Rao time comprised of various classes and castes like any other village in the
country but belonged to a relatively backward region. There were upper
caste landlords holding hundreds of acres and there were few Dalit families
holding some land.Rama Rao belonged to this middle stratum. He had his
Pradeep schooling in the village and during his school days he was already a
singer.There were bhajans,recitation of poems, tatwas, kolatam dance in
He was admitted to a hospital on the 4th of May after complaining of this rural mileau and this had a lot of influence on Rama Rao. In one of his
nausea, vomitings, giddiness and motions. His blood pressure fell down to interviews, he referred to his singing outside a temple while the upper castes
a miserable low. The doctors, after examining him, told us that he had a would be inside enjoying his singing. After finishing schooling, he joined
mild heart attack and that he would be under observation in the ICU for the B.Sc in Anantapur but later discontinued. The communist revolutionary
next twenty four hours. We talked to him before his being taken to the ICU movement had its presence in Kurnool district; then many leaders like CP
on a wheel chair and he appeared to be normal. While being taken to the Reddy,Neelam Ramchandraiah hailed from this district and there were
ICU on the wheel chair, his right hand fingers were as usual active with the organisers of the APRCP in Alur taluka as well. Sunkulu from Bollavaram
four fingers beating the thumb. was a singer linked to the organisation and Ramarao came into contact
with him. He was now singing songs of the people and revolution. It was in
He spent the night in the ICU and many of us returned to the hospital in
this milieu that sometime in December 1973, I along with three other PDSU
the morning unaware of what was to happen that day. They didnot allow
activists of Hyderabad met him for the first time in Bollavaram, Kurnool
anyone inside the ICU, but a friend did go and meet him. It appeared that
District. Somehow we could not hear all the singing of Ramarao then, but
he was doing okay but there were problems with the kidney and liver.
nevertheless the demand to send him to Hyderabad was made then. It
Another comrade and I could somehow manage to enter the ICU as he
was, may be, sometime in the first three months of 1974 that he came to
wanted to see us. He was there on the bed, leaning behind and looked
Hyderabad. We had a room in Domalguda. It was here that some of us
normal and we tried to convince him that there was nothing wrong with his
heard him sing and were all praise for the voice that he had. After the city
heart. We were telling him a lie. We knew he had had a mild heart attack.
conference of PDS in April 1974, where the name of PDSU was
We told him that there was nothing to worry and that he would be given,preparations were on for the 1st State conference of PDSU. As part
discharged the next morning. We were there only for a few minutes and of of these preparations, activists who could sing, dance, and act were
left, little realising that a process has set in him that would take him away regularly gathering at the Engineering College canteen under the guidance
from us. This was around noon when we saw him in the ICU. Around 2 PM of Kanuri thatha and Chalapathi. It was here that many of us would hear
we got a call from one of our friends in the hospital asking us to immediately some of the songs made popular by Ramarao. The first Conference of
get back. We knew something was wrong, but didnot realise what was PDSU on October 11,12 and 13 of 1974 was held in Sarojini Devi Hall in
actually in store.By the time we reached the hospital it was all over. They Hyderabad. The packed hall was all silent when he sang Amara
tried to revive him but in vain. His heart stopped beating and he was gone. kalavethalara. It was in this conference that the political satire penned by
His body lay there on the bed motionless. The usual movement of his right Kanuri, 'Veedhi Bhagavatham’ was staged and it was a huge attraction in
hand fingers was not to be seen anymore. We lost him and the loss was those days. By this time, the banner of ‘Arunodaya’ was already there and
shocking, unbelievable. It was this hospital that he used to visit often to Ramarao was practically staying in the city, but giving performances in the
get comrades or friends examined and the visit on 4th May turned out to be districts. It was only in 1981 that a formal state level organizational structure
the last one. came into being in the first Conference in Ongole. Rama Rao was elected
as the General Secretary of Arunodaya and Kanuri as President.
Born into a Dalit family, on July 1, 1955, he was brought up by his uncle
Siddappa, his mother Laxmamma’s brother. The village Mulagavalli at that In the immediate post-Emergency period, Rama Rao's songs played
Impartial, Transparent Probe Must both on the procedure and on the preparation of her affidavit. Forced by
popular opinion, the statement of the Supreme Court Bar Association and
Into Allegations of Sexual Harassment of the Association of Advocates on Record of the Court and a prompt
the Working Class economy needing attention, corporate funded media put out almost identical
economic challenges before the new Govt. The Economic Times announced
Movement
a ten point economic agenda on the 24th of May 2019 itself, i.e. the day
after BJP-RSS’s massive electoral victory. Within days came the
announcement that a first 100 days agenda on various issues had already
been kept ready and it was made public. It substantiated the Economic
Aparna Times report of 24th May 2019, "an economic plan to kickstart private
investment and stimulate demand is already ready" and it also announced
Even before taking oath of office as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi some of the measures which the corporate media had been stipulating- no
stated post the electoral victory of the BJP-RSS in the Parliamentary doubt the others will follow soon.
Elections 2019, that there were now only two ‘jatis’ in India- the poor and The economy had been projected as growing throughout the 2018-19
those who want to contribute to taking the poor out of poverty. Thus, at one financial year, though some slowing was conceded. In the first three
stroke, one myth was created and another debunked. quarters the figures were given as 8% in the first quarter, slowing to 7%
The gloss-over was of the reality of the caste system in India. In addition, and then to 6.6% in the third. The fourth quarter was being projected at
was presented the myth of an India which had no class contradiction between 6.4% to 6.2% but with the announcement of the name of the new Finance
the mighty numbers of the exploited and the handful of exploiters who Minister came the acknowledgement of a figure of 5.8%. Figures of Industrial
flourish on this exploitation and have no intentions of ending it. This myth, production shrank in March 2019 for the first time in two years, private
created by the RSS, is to lull the exploited and to cover up the agenda for investment has been conceded to be low and so too consumer demand.
the crackdown on workers and peasants which is in the offing under the Figures of annual growth in Car sales have been used to show falling
new Govt’s policies. consumer demand- they were 9.2% in 2017, fell to 7.9% in 2018 and are at
6.3% this year. The current account deficit has increased, trade deficit
In addition, it was clarified that the "new, strong" India under Modi had has increased and the CMIE has stated that the unemployment rate is
nothing to do with the economic well being of India and her people. It was 7.35%. all these figures are now being openly talked of in newspaper and
openly admitted by Modi himself by the above quoted statement that poverty television debates of the corporate media, as though they have been born
was an over riding feature of India and that was the state of the largest post the election results and have nothing to do with the policies of the
number of the citizens. The serious economic situation was to be further RSS-BJP 1 Govt in particular and the pro imperialist economic model being
conceded within days by announcing the deceleration of the growth rate of implemented in general post- 1947 of course, but more particularly since
the GDP to 5.8% in the last quarter, lower even than the 6.2 % figure being 1991.
given out by several sources. Such is the capacity of the RSS machinery,
There has been much pushing of what the Govt. "must do" in the
that the 'strong India' discourse was substituted by India in economic
economic scenario and the proposals are all intensification of the agenda
distress almost overnight and hardy any eyelids blinked.
of new economic policies. Govt. should monetize public assets like rail
Acknowledgement of Economic Crisis tracks, ports, roads and power generation units, must sell off or close
public sector and monetize its huge land assets, Anil Ambani says the
Thus, almost alongside the electoral results came the acknowledgement Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) are in the ICU and the govt
The truth is not faced- jobs available are very few and are all contractual, Besides of course, this RSS BJP Govt., as in its earlier avatar too,
there are no labour laws being applied to such workers, labour law speaks some part but does lot more in the same direction. Thus, while
implementation machinery has been already systematically eroded and only days into office for a second time it has cut the contributions of both
most of the labour laws detested by employers are only on paper really, employers and employees to the ESI corpus. It has only spoken about
workers holding permanent jobs are a small minority, already safety at how much easier it is going to be to make more owners comply with providing
workplace is not enforced- all the dreamt of conditions of annihilation of ESI and how much the workers are going to enjoy a smaller contribution
workers’ rights and downgrading of wages already exist, but still Business level but not given any commitment about there being no dilution of the
is not happening, Make in India is not taking off, foreign investment is not facilities under ESI Act which are provided to those covered by the ESI.
coming and demand is not picking up. That is because the crisis in the The point is, it is not workers but employers who have been wanting the
economy and the unease of doing business is not because workers’ wages ESI contributions to be done away with. This is clear from the Govt’s official
are high and they have too many rights, but due to the pro imperialist release which says that the step is going to promote Ease of Doing
economic model and the resultant shrunken domestic demand. In fact, Business, and other reports which say that employers are going to save
minimum wages to all workers would actually stimulate domestic demand. over 500 crores at a conservative estimate. It also needs further discussion
But keeping up a false co-relation narrative helps to fool the people by that unfortunately reformist trade union centres have assented in these
giving a false target, distract dissent when workers’ rights are attacked. cuts and are now protesting that the Govt has cut more than was agreed!
Indian Express, on 20th June 2019 reported in an article that the CITU has
Upcoming attacks on the Working class termed the announcement a gross violation of the Tripartite Governing Body
Meeting of the ESI held on September 18th 2018 where it was "unanimously
The Economic Times edition mentioned earler- 24 thMay 2019- used a decided" that the employers' contribution would be reduced to 4% of enrolled
most interesting term to describe what the focus of the BJP-RSS govt workers’ wages from the existing 4.75% and the employees contribution to
should be – it called it the China opportunity. It picked up all the attacks on 1% from the existing 1.75%. Subsequent to the meeting, said CITU, a
the working class by social imperialist China post the downfall of socialism. draft notification was issued on the same lines by the Govt. on 5th February
AIKMS Organizes Tribal consequence of these struggles, the present FRA -2006 came into existence.
This Act stipulates issuing of Title Deeds up to 4 Hectares/10 acres of
Convention to Protect
forest lands, which were being cultivated before 13th December 2005, by
Tribals and other Traditional Forest Dwellers, who are residing since 3
generations- 75 years. FRA 2006 defined the Forest Land in its chapter
Tribal Lands 1(d) “...within any forest area and includes unclassified forests,
undemarcated forests, existing or deemed forests, protected forests,
reserved forests, sanctuaries and national parks”. Land patta certificates
Stop eviction of Tribals & Other Traditional Forest are to be given for community needs also. Besides these communities
also have the right to utilize the minor forest produce and these include,”...all
Dwellers
non-timber forest produce of plant origin including bamboo, brushwood,
Issue pattas to those cultivating Podu Lands stumps, cane, tursar, cocoons, honey, wax, lac, medicinal plants and herbs,
roots, tubers and the like.” Thus, the Act gives 13 kinds of legal rights.
Implement the Rights enumerated in the Forest Their rights are not dependent on anyone’s magnanimity but have legal
Rights Act 2006 sanction.
Rise and develop the united movement to defend Already 13 years have passed since the existence of FRA 2006 but
Podu Lands
Tribals are the most oppressed, exploited and neglected people in
Society and even now the main means of their livelihood is Podu Lands All India Tribal Convention
(forest lands). State and Central governments have started attacks through
Forest personnel, with police force on a large scale, to evict the Tribals For Protection of Tribal Lands
and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers from forests. In the last 5 years,
Telangana State Government abandoned issuing pattas to those cultivating July 4, 2019
podu lands, though they are cultivating since long and instead took up the
programme of evicting them from their podu lands in the name of 10 AM to 5 PM
“Harithahara” and started planting saplings on these lands. Sundaraiah Vignan Kendra
Parliament on 29.12.2006 approved “The Scheduled Tribes and other
Traditional Forest Dwellers Act 2006”, due to the pressure mounted by the Hyderabad (Telengana)
movements launched by Tribals and other Forest Dwellers through their
organizations, supported by intellectuals and other forces. Rules pertaining neither the Central nor any State Government has implemented this Act
to the above Act were finalized in 2008. In 2002, Supreme Court in properly. Though the tribals and other forest dwellers (who are residing
Godavarman case had given orders to evict the tribals and other forest since 75 years) are cultivating 3, 5, 6 or 10 acres of podu land but they
dwellers, whose forest lands have not been regularized. The danger of were given pattas for only 1 to 10 cents in many villages, thus diluting the
eviction of 50 lakh tribals from their podu lands came to the fore and about very purpose of the Act itself.
3 lakh tribals had been evicted. The movement against the Supreme Court
order was militant and some persons sacrificed their lives. As a More than half of the claims for pattas have been rejected ignoring the
IFTU supports strike of the collusion of the concerned ministry (DAE) tried to create divisions among
the workers. In the conciliation proceedings before the Asst. Labour
workers of Uranium Corporation Commissioner (Central), Chaibasa on 07th June 2019 the management
declared that it will not negotiate with the four Unions and immediately
of India Ltd. issued a notice to workers calling upon them to individually select one of
the Unions for negotiations and give that to the management in writing.
This effort to sow dissent among workers and bypass the unions proved to
The around 4,000 workers of Uranium Corporation of India Ltd.(UCIL) be the last straw. The workers' anger erupted and they went on indeifnite
had gone on strike on 10.06.19 morning. The strike was total in all the strike from the morning of 10th June 2019 demanding that the management
seven mines – Jadugoda, Turamdih, Narwapahar, Bhatin, Mohuldih, Bagjata, immediately enter into negotiations with the joint committee of four unions
Banduhurang as well as in the two ore processing mills (in Jadugoda and on the common charter of demands for a 5 year wage settlement which
Turamdih) in East Singhbhum District of Jharkhand (near Jamshedpur) and was already overdue by more than a year. Incidentally in the public sector
there was zero production. In addition around 100 mine workers staged a coal companies in Jharkhand – BCCL and CCL- a new 5 year wage
sit in strike at their workplace in the Turamdih underground mine at a depth settlement has already been implemented more than a year ago.
of 600 metres in Turamdih. The strike was a result of the management's
and the concerned ministry's (Department of Atomic energy-DAE) attempts UCIL is the only establishment producing uranium in India but the Govt.
to force the workers to accept a 10 year wage settlement and their refusal has no concern for the workers who expend their sweat and toil in dangerous
to negotiate with the Unions. working conditions. On the other hand, as if to mock the workers, the
officers have been paid lakhs of rupees each as performance related pay
In UCIL, which is a public sector unit, since the last 25 years the practice just a few days ago while management has been continuously giving the
has been for the management to negotiate and sign 5 yearly wage excuse of bad economic situation tro oppose the demands of the workers.
settlements with four operating Unions, three affiliated to IFTU, INTUC, In fact profit and loss question in relation to economic situation of UCIL is
BMS respectively and SUMU (which is associated with JMM). Wage meaningless becuase Uranium mined by UCIL is not sold in the market
revision of the workers should have been implemented w.e.f. 01.04.2018. and the only purchaser is another goverment company. As both seller and
One year ago the 4 unions had submitted a common charter of demands buyer is the government, the prices are not determined by the market rather
for a fresh 5 year wage settlement. However the management, deviating they are only symbolic.
from past practice, instead of negotiating with the Unions on the charter of
demands tried to impose a 10 yr. wage settlement. This was rejected by all The National Committee of IFTU strongly condemned the attempts of
four unions in November 2018. The management stopped all negotiations. the UCIL management and the Central Govt. to try to force a 10 year long
After a few months the Central Labour machinery intervened and in a wage settlement on the workers and curtail their unions and their rights and
conciliation proceeding before the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner said that workers will not tolerate such repressive attitude. IFTU extended
(Central), Dhanbad on 06.05.2019, the management declared that the its full support to the agitating workers of UCIL and called upon the Central
workers agreed with the proposal of the management of having 10 years Govt. and the Prime Minister’s Office (under which UCIL is directly
agreement but the Unions were blocking. Thereupon the management controlled) to immediately intervene and ensure justice to the workers.
organized a referendum among the workers on its proposal on 20.05.2019.
Only 7 workers out of the 4,072 workers on its rolls (less than 0.02%) The management and the Goverment tried their utmost to break the
turned up to vote and thereby overwhelmingly supported the position of the strike. Officials of the Labour Department of the Central Govt. deliberately
Unions and rejected the managements 10 year wage agreement proposal. did not intervene to get the issues resolved through negotiations between
the managaement and workers though it was their legal duty. Administrative
Despite this, instead of resuming negotiations the management with machinery of the State govt. of BJP was given the task of breaking the