INDIA had never seen such a magnificent sight in its history. On Republic Day, January 26, 2021, lakhs of farmers rode over one lakh tractors on the outskirts of the national capital Delhi. Each tractor proudly held aloft the national flag and the flag of the kisan organisation to which it belonged. It was an unprecedented show of peasant unity that crowned the two month long, entirely peaceful struggle by lakhs of farmers on the borders of Delhi, being led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), comprising over 500 farmers organisations in the country.

ON January 16, a convention by political parties in Delhi was held at Constitution Club (Annexe) in support of the 52-day farmer’s struggle at various venues along the Delhi border. The convention was presided by K M Tiwari  from CPI(M), Dinesh Varshney (CPI), Ravi Rai (CPI-ML), Santosh Kumar (CGPI), Shatrujeet (RSP) and Gaurav (AIFB). Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat from CPI(M), K Narayana (CPI), Kavita Krishnan (CPI-ML), R S Dagar (RSP), Anita Rai Pawar (AIFB), and Prakash Rao (CGPI) spoke at the occasion.

THE unprecedented nationwide farmers struggle led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha(SKM) is set to greatly intensify as it completes two months on Republic Day, January 26, 2021. The ‘kisan parade’ in the form of a huge tractor march on the Outer Ring Road to Delhi will undoubtedly be the most massive form of farmers’ resistance since independence. It will have tens of thousands of tractors and over a million farmers.

THE Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited (KPCL) management has been found to be violating labour laws. This is the second biggest industry in AP after the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. CITU affiliated union had raised voice against this and made a complaint to the labour department. On December 31, 2020, in a joint meeting on our union’s complaint, the principal secretary of labour department of AP, Udaya Lakshmi noted that it is shameful for the state of Andhra Pradesh that labour laws are not implemented in Krishnapatnam Port (KPCL).

JANUARY 8, a delegation of the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers(AIFAWH) -CITU,  met the family of the anganwadi helper who was gang-raped and murdered in a temple in Badaun, UP. The delegation comprised A R Sindhu, president and Usharani, general secretary of AIFAWH, along with UP anganwadi union president, Veena Gupta, general secretary, Chaman Ara and Niger Parveen, an advocate and activist of CITU.