THE 10th conference of the Tripura Scheduled Caste Coordination Committee (Tripura Tapshil Jati Samanway Samity) concluded with the call to lay primary focus on the struggle for restoration of democracy which may give impetus to the day-to-day movements for livelihood and resist the divisive politics of the ruling BJP. The conference commenced on March 7 with flag hoisting and homage to the martyrs’ column in front of the Agartala Town Hall which was named after Sitaram Yechury. 

The Tripura Scheduled Caste Coordination Committee is an embody of four affiliated trade-based organisations of Dalit people --  fishermen’s organisation, cobblers’ organisation, washermen’s organisation and scavenging workers’ organisation. Prior to the open session, a condolence resolution was read out ruminating those leaders and prominent individuals who passed away since last conference, paying respect to the legacy of the departed leaders.    

Addressing the open session of the conference, Jitendra Chaudhury explained the ongoing chaotic international situation and repressive neo-fascist regime in the country. He said that it is time to build up a popular movement to protect the Constitution, against denial of democratic rights including the right to franchise and social justice. He said that the BJP made 299 glossy promises prior to the 2018 Assembly election only to deceive the people. Hardly any of those could be implemented as yet. The masses in general could realise that they have been duped. That is why the BJP needs a new ploy to split the anti-BJP vote. Though the BJP and the Tipra Motha are excellent partners smoothly functioning in the alliance government in Tripura, the cadres of both the parties are staging a mock fight, sometimes causing breakdown of law and order of the state ahead of the TTAADC election to deceive the people as they did in the 2023 Assembly election. But this time their deceptive tactic would not work, he asserted. The cadres of both the parties are flexing muscles in the race to disrupt and hijack the mandate in the upcoming TTAADC election, thereby denying minimum democratic process to roll on, Chaudhury informed.

Thanking the fighting spirit of the scheduled caste masses of Tripura, Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch (DSMM) leader Vikram Singh said, apart from exploitation out of capitalist system, Dalit masses are subjected to social injustice because of various social customs and prejudice formulated by upper caste Brahmins for establishment of their dominance in society. The innocent Dalit masses blindly bear with their destiny of humiliation, poverty and distress resting faith on so-called almighty. They must be emancipated with the sense of their own power, their right, self-respect that they deserve. If Dalits are not uplifted economically, they would not be rescued from social injustice. Thus it is imperative to mobilise them in the movement for political-economic issues with other democratic masses, Singh said.

Altogether 617 delegates including 68 women attended the conference. A nine-member presidium headed by organization president Ratan Bhowmik and a seven-member steering committee led by Sudhan Das were formed to conduct the conference. Leaders of different fraternal organisations -- CITU, AIKS, AIDWA, Ganamukti Parishad, AIAWU, DYFI and SFI -- greeted the conference and called for strengthening solidarity of the democratic masses with the struggles of the Dalit people. The conference adopted eight resolutions on contemporary issues and has taken up a 10-point charter of demands on the basis of which the conference resolved to widen movements in coming days throughout the state.   

Twenty-eight delegates took part in the discussion on the political –organisational report placed by the secretary. The issues highlighted by the delegates were: tremulous financial crisis in rural areas especially because of absence of work under the rural job guarantee scheme, and heinous physical attacks on the Left supporters by BJP miscreants are causing huge financial losses. Some of the delegates criticized lapses on the part of the leadership in a constructive way and suggested corrective actions. Sharing their ground experiences, the delegates compared conditions of poor people during the Left Front regime with that of the present one, and called for the Left Front’s return.

Senior CPI(M) leader Manik Sarkar addressed the conference the next day. Elaborating characteristics of the RSS-led BJP-Tipra Motha-IPFT alliance government in Tripura, he said, while alluring the millions of common masses with shiny promises during election, after assuming power, the BJP performs in the opposite direction to serve the interest of few corporate houses. As the crisis of livelihood of the common masses aggravates, the rulers are compelled to bulldoze over the stirring people. Thus they need to divide the people on religious and caste lines, encroach upon democratic rights, deny free and fair elections, and enact draconian laws to mute the dissent views. Still a conspiracy is afoot to break the traditional fraternity between Tribals and Bengalis which is a key factor for the state’s progress and peace. Hence there is no alternative to building up class and mass movement and it must be wide and extensive to come out of these all-round attacks, Sarkar suggested.    

In the last session on March 8, a 157-member state committee and a 22-member state secretariat were unanimously elected. The newly elected state committee held its first meeting in the conference hall and re-elected Ratan Bhowmik and Sudhan Das as the president and the secretary, respectively. 

The 10-point charter of demands adopted by the conference: 

1.  Ensure free education and free health service for all. Enhance scholarship and stipend for all. Lift the income ceiling for stipends of SC students. Introduce reservations in recruitment in all public and private institutions. 

2.  All the vacant posts in government departments and government–undertaking institutions must be filled up shortly maintaining reservation roster. Also the reservation policies must be adhered to in respect of promotion posts. MGNREGA must be reintroduced ensuring 200 mandays a year at the rate of Rs 200 wage per day. 

3.  Landless families must be provided with a plot of homestead and Rs 5 lakh must be sanctioned to them for construction of house.  

4.  Quantum of social pension must be raised to Rs 5,000 per month, the pension-holders who were delisted must be enlisted again for resuming their pension and the beneficiary list for social pension must be upgraded for inclusion of the newly qualified beneficiaries. 

5.  Every family must be provided 100 unit electricity free of cost. The power sector must not be handed over to private hands. Every BPL family must be provided with 10 kg rice free of cost per head per month. 

6.  For providing incentives to traders and entrepreneurs, proportionate reservation for SC candidates must be adhered to. Similar reservation policy should be maintained while distributing stalls constructed by the government in different market and commercial places. 

7.  Importance should be laid down to improve performance of caste-based trade, especially of fishermen, laundrymen, cobblers and scavenging workers. 

8.  Immediately undertake caste-based census

9.  In addition to existing two Lok Sabha seats, another seat may be demarcated in Tripura and reserved for Scheduled Caste. 

10.  Contain price hike, 14 essential goods must be distributed from fair price shops at affordable rates.