THE sixth state conference of CITU Jharkhand committee was organised  in Ranchi on September 26-27, in the backdrop of historical nationwide strike of coal workers on September 24, 2019 against 100 per cent FDI proposal in the coal sector by the BJP led government at the centre.  On the day preceding the conference ie, on September 25, CITU led anganwadi workers union organised a demonstration at Raj Bhawan, Ranchi, protesting against the barbaric lathicharge on protesting anganwadi workers by the police; the militancy and effectiveness of the programme providing a new zeal to the conference.

The inaugural session commenced with garlanding the picture of Comrade AK Roy, all India vice-president of CITU, by Tapan Sen, all India general secretary. Speaking on the occasion, Sen said that the first term of the Modi government was characterised by unprecedented fidelity to the vested interests of big corporate houses including foreign finance capital and imperialist monopoly capital on the part of the State. In the process, any dissent to the anti-people, anti-worker policies pursued by the government was ruthlessly suppressed. The nation is likely to witness a more zealous and naked repetition of the same policies in the second term of the Modi government. Numbers in the parliament and the compromising stand of the opposition with regard to neoliberal capitalism would enable the regime to strangle all democratic institutions. The authoritative trend of the government is evident from the manner in which Article 370 was revoked in Jammu & Kashmir with severe attacks on democratic rights of the people of the state. This high-handedness can only be challenged by militant working class movements across the country and CITU has to play a pivotal role in organising such movements.

In the delegate session which followed, Tapan Sen emphasised on organising the workers from the unorganised sector in Jharkhand, including scheme workers, and raising the issues concerning them. He also said that we should reach out to all sections of the working class in the state and a concrete strategy should be worked out for the same. The pro-corporate policies of the Modi government could only be defeated by achieving unity of the working class and strong united movements.

In the report placed by state secretary of CITU, Prakash Viplav, it was noted that in the name of ‘Momentum Jharkhand’, the state government is distorting the laws relating to land and labour in the state to suit corporate interests. Three amendments relating to labour laws including Industrial Disputes Act (Jharkhand Amendment) 2018 have been passed in the state assembly without any debate or discussion despite protests by the opposition parties. These new amendments have given all enterprises employing less than 50 workers immunity from the labour laws of our country.

Further, the nexus of corrupt politicians, private companies, bureaucrats, contractors and brokers in the state has turned the state into ‘Lootkhand’. The state has seen large scale closure of industrial units in the past years which have rendered thousands of workers jobless. Demonetisation, GST, high rates of electricity provided by JBVNL and lack of initiative has only worsened the situation. Industrial units in Ranchi, Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Jasidih and other parts of the state are being closed down. No steps have been taken by the government to prevent closure of industrial units in the state since the formation of the state 19 years ago.

Also, due to government policies, the number of regular workers in units across the state has plummeted and large scale contractualisation and casualisation of regular jobs is observed in most industrial units.

It was observed that though CITU has made effective interventions over the years, due to organisational weakness, we failed to capitalise on our efforts and make expansions in our structure. It was stressed that this weakness needed to be overcome.

The conference elected a new state committee with 92 members including 34 office-bearers. The conference ended with a vow to intensify the movements of the working class in the state and to work for a pro-people political alternative in the state.