ON September 12, 2023, the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) organised a massive statewide march of more than 10,000 women right in front of the Azad Maidan in the heart of South Mumbai for various demands regarding ration. This march was unprecedented in the history of Maharashtra AIDWA.

A special feature of this rally was that all the four prominent national AIDWA leaders – patron Brinda Karat, president P K Sreemathi, vice president Subhashini Ali, and general secretary Mariam Dhawale addressed this struggle.

For the last two months, AIDWA conducted a campaign in villages and bastis in all the districts where it has its units. Thousands of leaflets were distributed. The number of meetings conducted was innumerable. District conventions were held in most of the district headquarters which were addressed by the state leadership. Earlier, AIDWA conducted a door-to-door survey regarding PDS which revealed many shocking aspects of the ration system across the state, hence this statewide march was planned to highlight and resolve these problems. An intensive and imaginative social media campaign for this rally was conducted.

MAJOR DEMANDS
In view of the anti-people stand of the BJP central government towards the ration system and the sharp cuts in the food budget, women were left with no option other than banging the doors of the state government. Like many non-BJP-ruled states like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, the AIDWA demanded that the Maharashtra state government should also supply some basic commodities from its own treasury. The following concrete demands were made to the chief minister, both the deputy chief ministers and the minister of food supply through this march.

1. Universalise the ration system.

2. Raise the income limit criteria to get the ration. Provide food grains to all the needy at cheap rates till universalisation.

3. Don't pay by direct bank transfer (DBT), give the actual grains.

4. The state government must make special provision for food security in its budget and provide wheat, rice, sugar, pulses, oil, salt etc on every ration card.

5. Re-introduce concessional kerosene on ration card keeping in mind the gas subsidy stopped by the centre and the sky rocketing price of gas cylinders.

6. In many districts, ration shopkeepers cancel ration cards without any notice or GR, force women to fill forms agreeing to voluntary giving up of ration, and approval of DBT. Stop all this and bring transparency in the ration scheme.

Thousands of women from 18 districts of Thane-Palghar, Nashik, Solapur, Mumbai, Pune, Raigad, Nagpur, Nanded, Sangli, Kolhapur, Wardha, Amravati, Chandrapur, Akola, Satara, Ahmednagar and Jalna started pouring in by trains, buses, trucks and tempos from four o'clock in the morning. They started gathering in the Mumbai office premises. Under the illusion that not many women would gather, the police kept only 15-20 women police for security.

But as the time of the march approached, hundreds of women started coming in large processions towards the main road. Women had to wait outside on the footpath as the office area was flooded and full with women. The police were stopping women from coming on the road. AIDWA had asked them for permission to hold a disciplined public meeting occupying part of the main road. But they started pressurising the women to go and sit in Azad Maidan. Women flatly refused to go there. All were sure that once they go inside, no one from the government would take any cognizance of them.

Seeing the mood of our women, all the leaders came forward and requested police to let us have a public meeting on the main road itself. Police immediately started placing barricades to restrict the women at our office gate. Realising that the police were not even listening to our leaders, the women lost their patience and started marching on the streets amidst roaring slogans like 'ration is our right', ‘no DBT, only grains, 'sarkar humse darti hai, police ko aage karti hai'. The police and the administration were helpless. Finally when the march turned around the main road and started approaching the CST Railway Terminus, they got the additional force with the barricades and were able to stop the march. The women held a meeting on the road and declared that they will not get up unless they get an appointment with the minister.

The public meeting, which was presided over by state president Nasima Shaikh, started with the speech of Mariam Dhawale, followed by Subhashini Ali, P K Sreemathi, and Brinda Karat. All of them strongly condemned the anti-women and pro-corporate policies of the central and state government and congratulated the state committee for organising women on such a large scale.

TALKS WITH STATE GOVERNMENT
Meanwhile, under the pressure of thousands of women occupying the main road, and with the intervention of CPI(M) MLA Vinod Nikole, the AIDWA delegation met the food supply minister Chhagan Bhujbal. The delegation included Vinod Nikole, Mariam Dhawale and P K Sreemathi along with state leaders Nasima Shaikh, Prachi Hatiwlekar, Rehana Shaikh, Sunita Shingda, Hemlata Patil, Lahani Dauda, Hirabai Ghonge, Durga Kakade, Rekha Deshpande and Karwanda Gaikwad.

The discussion was positive. Immediate issues like denying ration on separated, new ration cards, denial due to biometrics, cancelling the condition of seeking NOC of a landlord for tenants, migrants, etc were resolved. It will now be mandatory for ration shopkeepers to display the list of beneficiaries, shop timings etc outside shops in Marathi. The minister himself called the supply officers of some districts where there were some complaints and ordered immediate action. However, despite the fact that the ration by the central government is very inadequate, the state showed its inability to provide additional items on ration due to lack of funds. However, it was agreed to give extra ration items during the Ganesh and Diwali festivals.

After this discussion, the delegation returned and Prachi Hatiwlekar informed the women what the minister had conceded.  State vice president Sonya Gill and joint secretary Preethy Sekhar conducted the public meeting while the delegation was away. Many women state leaders also addressed it. The public meeting and agitation concluded with the determination to follow up on the implementation of the agreed demands at the district level and to carry forward the fight for the remaining demands with greater strength and determination.