A STATE-LEVEL convention was held at Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhavan in Agartala on January 8th at the joint call of state units of the central trade unions(CTU), class and mass organisations of the state. The convention has resolved to rescue the country from the onslaughts of the corporate-friendly government. It has given a call to make the two-day nationwide strike on February 23rd and 24th, a grand success.The convention was attended by front-ranking workers of the Left trade unions, class and mass organisations at the sub-division level.

FACING massive anger at the relentless raising of petrol/diesel and cooking gas prices, the Modi government has resorted to trickery. It has shifted the onus of bringing down prices on to state governments. BJP state governments have been forced to comply with this tactic, and political pressure is being manufactured and applied on non-BJP state governments to do the same. The purpose is to deflect attention from the monumental burden that has been put on the people over the past seven years of BJP rule at the centre and present it as the doing of state governments.

THE central government imposed a lock-down / curfew in the entire country from March 25, 2020. The people in Delhi-NCR and in other states/UTs in the country were caught unaware by the sudden announcement, which now appears to have been announced without any planning and preparation. Casual workers, who were dependent upon the daily wages, were staring at the crisis. It was a question of their survival. No work for them meant no wages; impacting their abilities to procure food.