People's Democracy

THE All India agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) held its first Gujarat state conference at Yuvnagar near Junagarh on February 24, attended by 132 delegates representing a membership of 2200. The venue was named after Panchabhai Barayya, a martyr of the union who laid down his life in struggle. The conference opened with the union flag being hoisted by Suneet Chopra, all India joint secretary of the union, followed by floral homage at the martyrs memorial by CITU state secretary Arun Mehta and delegates.

A presidium based on Vishrambhai Bhikubhai, Kanubhai Laxmanbhai and K K Chavda (sarpanch, Yuvnagar) was elected after which Pravinbhai Ahabhai delivered the welcome address.

Inaugurating the conference, Suneet Chopra pointed out that agricultural labourers, as a growing force in rural India, were best fitted to organise themselves and launch militant struggles in the rural areas against poverty, illiteracy, caste oppression, for land, for the implementation of government schemes to benefit the rural poor, for employment and higher wages. He pointed out that their relation to the peasantry, as employees as well as co-workers, provided an excellent opportunity to influence them not only to undertake more militant struggles but also to orient the rural masses towards more radical solutions to their problems.

The AIAWU had come a long way from a membership of 7.9 lakh in 8 states in 1981 to 16.9 lakh in states in 1990, to 25.8 lakh in 13 states in 2000. Now Gujarat had joined as the fourteenth state. With no less than 32 lakh agricultural labourers in the state, one could hope for a massive increase of membership and activity of the union. He cited the experience of Kerala, where membership rose from 3.7 lakh in 1981 to 11 lakh in 1991 and 15.5 lakh in 2001, with two out of every three agricultural labourers in the state enrolled as members of the union.

Chopra stressed that such results cannot be ensured without proper care being taken to enrol a mass membership, to organise it in village units with conference, to hold elections to the leadership at all levels and ensure democratic functioning and teamwork. If these tasks are done properly, any number of demands may be taken up successfully. He warned the conference that constant struggle is needed to preserve the rights won over the years through sacrifice and struggle, and expressed the hope that the new AIAWU committee in Gujarat would follow the tradition established by the sacrifice of Panchabhai.

Presenting his report to the conference, convenor Batuk Makwana highlighted the militant struggles taken up by the union successfully which had helped to build up the membership. There were land struggles of different types, like that of 40 families of Uben village to reclaim river-led land that had been abandoned in time of famine; for reclaiming grazing in Pankhan, which led to a serious clash; to restore the mid-day meal that had been stopped by the landlords, for BPL ration cards, widow pensions and famine relief. He reminded the delegates of how they had been successful in these struggles, and urged them to be better organised to achieve even greater victories in future. Eight delegates including one woman delegate took part in the discussion after which the secretary’s report was unanimously adopted.

The conference was greeted also by DYFI state secretary Ashok Sompura and CPI(M) state secretary Arun Mehta who is also the CITU state secretary. Addressing the conference, he urged the delegates to remember that while on paper all citizens were equal, in reality the country was being ruled by the big bourgeoisie and landlords. Their stranglehold has to be broken for the people to really become the rulers of India. He highlighted the danger to India’s secularism, sovereignty and to democratic rights under communal forces like the BJP, which was implementing the dictates of the WTO and US imperialism as never before in our history. He warned of impending attacks on the trade union movement and on the people in the forthcoming budget, and called on the conference to support the protests that were to take place all over the country on March 4.

The conference then elected a 25-member state committee with Pravinbhai, as president and Batuk Makwana as secretary. Five places have been kept vacant for further expansion. The conference took up a number of issues like proper provision of BPL ration, nurseries on forest land to be run by agricultural labourers, famine relief, food for work programmes, and the struggle against atrocities on scheduled castes and tribes, apart from the immediate protest programme of March 4. Closing the conference on behalf of the presidium, the newly elected vice president K K Chavda urged the delegates to go to the villages, enrol members, organise conferences and to launch struggles all over the state for a better life for agricultural labourers so that they may have a genuine say in determining their future.