The Centre of Indian Trade Unions, All India Kisan Sabha and the All India Agricultural Workers’ Union, have issued the following statement on April 3, on the prime minister’s address on the same day

IT is a matter of great concern that around ten days into the country wide lockdown, large sections of the workers including migrant workers, agricultural workers and poor peasants have lost their livelihood, income and are compelled to starve. The announcements related to protections of their jobs and incomes, protection against eviction, provision of food etc have not taken off in most of the places. Not only in the unorganised sector, even in the organised sector including in the IT and other sectors, companies are retrenching employees and cutting down wages. Large numbers of migrant workers are being evicted by house owners. Frontline health workers are yet to have proper protection gear.

It is a matter of great concern that in many parts of India, the standing crops like wheat, paddy, chillies, pulses etc are ready for harvest but the lockdown and restrictions have created a situation where harvesting, transport and marketing is curtailed. We also demand unemployment wage clause under MGNREGA to be used for helping agricultural workers. Special package to aid harvesting and transportation of crops must be announced. Employment Guarantee Act should be extended to the urban areas also. The standing crops have to be protected to save the farmer and the agricultural workers and to protect the food security of the country.

Instead of addressing this serious situation, the brunt of its impact being borne by the poor workers, agricultural workers and peasants, instead of improving health infrastructure, providing protective gear to the frontline health workers, instead of focussing on increasing rapid testing to identify affected people and providing medical care to them, ensuring food, shelter and health protection  for these people who create wealth of the society, the prime minister has sought to trivialise the grave situation by urging people to switch off lights and light lamps, candles, torchlights etc for 9 minutes at 9 pm on April 5. This, it is ridiculously claimed, is meant to ‘dispel the darkness’ created by coronavirus.

This is nothing short of a gimmick and a mockery of the plight of millions of workers, peasants as well as health workers and others providing essential services.

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and All India Agricultural Workers’ Union (AIAWU) have been intervening along with other mass organisations and like-minded organisations to help the needy. We find that in India’s villages as well as in its towns and cities, there are a large number of poor, migrant workers, destitute people stranded without proper access to food. Unless this is addressed immediately, an unfortunate scenario of hunger deaths is looming large.

Confidence building measures on a war-footing are required from the side of the central government along with financial assistance to the state governments. The GST funds due to states should be released and the government should stop curtailing social security benefits of workers. Every person below poverty line should be given Rs 5000 per month. State governments should be consulted to assess losses to agriculture, industry, services and toiling masses and adequate allocation be made to help them.

CITU, AIKS and AIAWU call upon the prime minister to act on these issues to dispel the darkness created by the abject failure of his government to provide relief to the people in distress.