A CONVENTION, organised by the Co-ordination Committee of Workers’ and Employees, was held on August 2 at the Union Club Hall in Ranchi. CITU vice president and former MP Basudev Acharya inaugurated the convention. Addressing the convention, the veteran trade union leader said that Prime Minister Modi has been raising the slogan of ‘Shramev Jayate’ in one hand and is rapidly introducing pro-management amendments in labour laws on the other hand. The policy of ‘hire and fire’ has been introduced to facilitate enslavement of workers by the corporate houses and multi-national companies. All such anti-worker steps are being taken in violation of the Indian Constitution through promulgation of ordinances, he said. Acharya said that through the land acquisition ordinance, the BJP government at the Centre is snatching away land from farmers and depriving the poor rural population of their livelihood. The way the central government is hurrying with the policy of privatisation and disinvestment in railways, coal industry, financial institutions and public sector units, it appears that they have decided a complete handover of economy into the hands of Indian and foreign corporates. This is not a case of 100 per cent FDI but a showcase of 100 per cent privatisation. In this background, the success of September 2 all-India strike, jointly called by central trade unions and federations of workers and employees, has become more significant to resist the ensuing onslaughts of anti-people policies of the BJP government. The convention was also addressed by state president of the Non-Gazetted Employees Federation Navin Choudhary, coal workers’ union leader RP Singh, Prasun Sengupta, Bhavan Singh, Naresh Lal, S B Pandey, S K Roy, and Sudhangshu Sekhar among others. It was conducted by the three-member presidium of Amit Roy, Ashok Chakraborty and K P Roy. Summing up the convention, CITU state secretary Prakash Viplav gave a call to workers and employees to ensure resounding success of the general strike. (END)