The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc have issued thefollowing statement on April 3.THE country has entered the second week of the 21-day lockdown to contain the community spread of Covid-19 pandemic. Many problems have surfaced in a sharp manner which need to be resolved urgently. Many of these were anticipated but unfortunately no remedial action was taken before the announcement of the lockdown.1.

THE current pandemic has brought to the fore, and with exceptional clarity, the fundamental contradiction underlying contemporary globalisation, namely, the contradiction between the interests of finance and thoseof the people. Indeed this contradiction, which characterizes the era of globalisation as a whole, has now come to a head.It is becoming clearly visible in country after country. Take the case of India.

Below we publish the points raised by Elamaram Kareem, CPI(M) MP in the All Party Meeting called by the Prime Minister on April 08.TAKING part in the all party meeting convened by the Government of India, Elamaram Kareem, CPI(M) MP, began by appreciating the decision of convening the meeting of representatives of political parties to discuss the prevailing national situation. CPI(M) and other Left parties have been requesting the prime minister for calling an all party meeting since February as the Covid-19 pandemic started spreading in India.

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) demanded the central government’s intervention to prevent firms from sacking its employees and to ensure payment of salaries during the coronavirus lockdown in the country.As part of its relentless efforts to safeguard the rights of the workers in the country, the union had written the fifth letter in a row, on this issue to the secretary of the ministry of labour and employment.Tapan Sen, the general secretary of CITU, in the letter, highlighted the fact that most of the cases of violation of the government orders in this regard have occurred in the

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on April 7, has strongly opposed the unjustified move of the Department of Health and Family Welfare suspending rules 8,9 (8) and Rule 18A under the PcPNDT Act, ostensibly due to the coronavirus pandemic. This suspension goes against the main purpose of the Act to stop sex selection by means of certain basic and vital compliances that genetic labs and clinics etc have to follow in keeping records and submitting these for scrutiny to the appropriate authority and for re-registration.