March by Delhi trade unions against the anti-worker budget

Trade unions of Delhi organised a joint rally from Bank of Baroda in Connaught Place to Jantar Mantar in the country’s capital Delhi on 2nd March 2020 against the Union Budget presented by the central government. The rally was awash with red banners and flags. The banners bore slogans of “Inquilab Zindabad!” “Retract the Budget proposals!” “Stop dividing the working class on the basis of religion!” “Implement a monthly minimum wage of Rs.21,000!” “Down with state-organised violence!” “Retract the anti-people Budget!” “Parliament is the tool of monopoly capitalists!” “Intensify our united struggle against the program of globalisation through privatisation and liberalisation!”.

TU against budget

This rally of hundreds of protestors reached Jantar Mantar shouting militant slogans and a meeting was then held there. Speakers of all unions addressed the meeting. Ashok Singh of INTUC, Deerandra Sharma of AITUC, Anurag Saksena of CITU, Tarni Paswan of HMS, R.k.Sharma of AIUTUC, Montu Sarkar of UTUC, Latha of SEWA and Santosh Kumar of Mazdoor Ekta Committee.

Speakers who addressed the meeting said that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has presented a budget that is anti-people and anti-national. The government gave a tax relief of Rs.1,44,000 crores to the capitalists in 2019. Everything taken together, capitalists have been benefitted to the time of Rs.1,69,000 crores in the previous six months. This budget will benefit the biggest monopoly corporations by Rs. 25,000 crores annually.

The crisis of the economy is a direct outcome of the reduced purchasing power of the workers and peasants. People’s incomes have to be increased if the economy is to be pulled out of the crisis. The crisis can be alleviated if the Rs.1,69,000 crores gifted to the capitalists were to be applied in increasing the incomes of workers and peasants. The government is targeting gross receipts of Rs.2,10,00 crores. This is expected to be realised by the sale of government shares in public enterprises – Life Insurance Corporation of India, Indian Railways, Ordnance factories, BSNL, Air India and others – to monopoly corporations for a song. All this is being carried out under the programme of globalisation through privatisation and liberalisation

It was estimated that 50 crore workers and toilers would participate in the all-India strike when it was announced for 8th January. However, the government brought in black laws to break the unity of workers and peasants. The violence against people in north-east Delhi was carried out in the style of the 1984 state organised genocide of Sikhs. These killings are organised to break the unity of workers. This is the communal face of the Indian state. We will have to establish the rule of workers and peasants, where the state will be duty bound to provide sukh and suraksha (prosperity and security) to the people.

The protest concluded with “Inquilab Zindabad!”, “Long live workers unity; we are all one!”, “Implement monthly minimum wage of Rs.21,000!” and other slogans.

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