THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) took the initiative to organise a national convention of scheme workers in Aiwan – e- Ghalib Auditorium in New Delhi on December 10, 2015. This convention was meant to bring together the workers employed in the different schemes of government of India, focus their miserable conditions and develop a country wide movement on the common demands of the scheme workers. Over 300 scheme workers from 18 states – Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, working in 11 different schemes of government of India participated in the convention. They included the anganwadi workers and helpers of the Integrated Child Development Services scheme (ICDS), the Accredited Social Heath Activists (ASHAs), Second Auxiliary Nurse cum Midwives, and 104 services staff of the National Health Mission (NHM), the midday meal workers of the Midday Meal Programme (MDM Programme), the teaching and non teaching staff of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP), the IKP Animators and Suvidha Pradatas of National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), the para teachers, part time teachers and teachers employed in the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rozgar Sevaks of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA). A presidium comprising S Varalakshmi, secretary, CITU and president of the All India Midday Meal Workers’ Federation, Prasanna Kumari, member, CITU general council and All India Coordination Committee of ASHA Workers, Veena Gupta, secretary of All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers and Sunil Paswan, member All India NCLP Staff and Non Teaching Staff Association presided over the convention. AK Padmanabhan, president, CITU inaugurated the convention and highlighted the need for the scheme workers to fight against the policies of the government which refuses to recognise them as workers and denies their rights. Hemalata, secretary, CITU introduced the draft Declaration. Tapan Sen, general secretary, CITU and member Rajya Sabha greeted the convention and explained the need for the workers to organise on the basis of their schemes, launch struggles at the state level, and through this process develop a country wide movement. He assured all support from the CITU and told that the ensuing CITU general council would take a decision on developing a country wide movement of scheme workers. The declaration was unanimously adopted after representatives from all the schemes participated in the discussion. The convention decided to conduct a wide campaign on the common demands by not only approaching workers in different schemes of government of India but also the beneficiaries of these schemes, seeking their support and participation in effective implementation of the schemes. It has also decided to observe an All India Demands’ Day as the culmination of the campaign, on a date to be decided by the CITU general council. AR Sindhu, secretary, CITU and general secretary, All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers welcomed the gathering. Ranjana Nirula, treasurer, CITU and convenor of All India Coordination Committee of ASHA Workers proposed the vote of thanks. The convention also unanimously adopted a resolution, placed by Ranjana Nirula, expressing solidarity with the ASHAs of Telangana who were on strike for more than 100 days and the anganwadi employees of Andhra Pradesh who have been heroically fighting on their demands, braving severe repression by both the state governments. DECLARATION THIS national convention of scheme workers, employed in the various schemes of the government of India strongly denounces the apathetic attitude of the government to the genuine demands of the around one crore workers employed in its different schemes. Despite their immense contribution to the development of our human resources, the scheme workers are compelled to live in poverty and misery. This convention demands the government of India to take immediate measures to recognise the right of these workers to be treated as ‘workers/ employees’ and ensure dignified and decent working and living conditions to all the scheme workers. Many of the schemes run by the government of India are acknowledged for their contribution in improving the human development indices of the country. The role of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in bringing down severe and moderate malnutrition and improving immunisation, the role of National Health Mission (NHM) in increasing institutional deliveries and reducing maternal mortality rates, the contribution of the Midday Meal Programme in increasing school enrolment and curtailing school dropout rates are well documented. The government itself proclaims them as its ‘flagship programmes’, ‘largest such programmes in the world’ etc at national and international platforms. These achievements would not have been possible but for the tireless work of the millions of workers employed in these schemes. An overwhelming majority of these scheme workers are women, mostly from poor and socially oppressed sections of the society. Besides the anganwadi employees in the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in the National Health Mission, the midday meal workers in the Midday Meal Programme, important services are being provided by the workers and employees in many other schemes of the government of India. The teaching and non teaching staff of the special schools under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) have been providing non-formal education and vocational training to the child labour and mainstreaming them into regular schools. Thousands of them have spent all their youth and productive years in helping in the eradication of child labour, though it continues as a scourge in our society due to the policies of the government that promote unemployment, underemployment and poverty among their parents. Similar are the conditions of the lakhs of Gram Rozgar Sevaks who play a key role in the implementation of MGNREGA. The anganwadi employees, ASHAs, midday meal workers and the teaching and non-teaching staff of NCLP account for more than sixty lakhs of the workers employed in the schemes of government of India. Despite their untiring and dedicated work, the government does not recognise them even as ‘workers’. It does not pay them ‘wages’ but a pittance as ‘honorarium’ or ‘incentive’. After spending all their life working directly under the different departments of the government, when they reach around 60 years, they are just thrown out without pension or any other social security benefit like some ‘use and throw’ article. They are forced to live and die as destitutes. In addition to the above, lakhs more are employed in other schemes of government of India like community resource persons, master book keepers cum auditors working with the Self Help Groups formed as per the National Rural Livelihood Mission of the ministry of rural development, the ‘farmer friends’ in the schemes implemented through the ATMA (Agriculture Technology Management Agency) of the ministry of agriculture etc. These schemes are being implemented through state missions, agencies or NGOs. Though performing the same job, the workers are given different names in different states or even within the state and paid pathetic amounts as ‘performance based incentives’ or asked to collect ‘user charges’ from the beneficiaries. This is nothing but a deceptive ploy of the government to deny the workers their due wages and benefits. Besides, lakhs of women and men are working as teachers under the District Primary Education Programme and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan of the government of India. They are given different names in different states, like ‘para teachers’, ‘siksha mitras’, ‘siksha bandhus’, siksha karmis’, etc. They are only paid a consolidated amount as remuneration which is far less than the regular teachers. Thousands of employees are working on contract basis on meagre wages in many other schemes including the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme that has been merged with Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, as supervisors in ICDS, second ANMs under NHM etc. Around 5 lakhs, mostly women are working in the country under the government of India’s ‘Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana’, getting only a small commission. It is evident that most of these schemes are meant to provide basic essential services for the well being of the people, like health, nutrition, education, employment etc. Instead of ensuring these services as rights, the government is resorting to provide them through some ‘schemes’ which are meant to be temporary and can be withdrawn anytime. Some are being run as or have been converted into ‘missions’, indicating that these would be closed once the ‘mission’ objective is declared as ‘accomplished’. ICDS has already been converted into ‘mission mode’. NHM and NRLM are ‘missions’. Now all these are being run through ‘societies’ formed for the purpose or handed over to the NGOs. These are nothing but attempts to weaken, dismantle and wind up these schemes. This national convention condemns this neglect of the government in ensuring these essential services to the poor as their ‘rights’ and instead providing them only through ‘schemes’. It condemns the total indifference of the government of India towards the genuine issues and demands of the lakhs of workers employed in these schemes. It strongly deplores the drastic reduction in allocation for these schemes made by the present BJP led government in its union budget 2015–16. Equally alarming as well as condemnable is the hectic move of the government to privatise many of these schemes and/or handing over their administration to the corporates and NGOs. This convention notes with appreciation that some sections of scheme workers have organised themselves, not only at the state but also at the national level, and are fighting for their demands. The anganwadi employees and the midday meal workers have organised themselves into national federations and have launched several militant struggles in many states as well as at the all India level and have been able to achieve a few of their demands. ASHAs under the leadership of All India Coordination Committee of ASHAs, conducted demonstrations at the national capital and are also organising struggles in several states and have made some gains. The convention congratulates the heroic struggle of ASHAs in Telangana who have been on indefinite strike facing severe repression from the state government for more than two months. The convention appreciates the efforts of the teaching and non teaching staff of NCLP who are making efforts to develop a nation wide organisation. In some states, they have been organising campaigns and struggles on their demands. The convention also notes with appreciation the efforts being made by other sections of scheme workers like the IKP Animators, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya teachers, Second ANMs, Sakti Sahayikas, Krishak Sathis, the Gram Rozgar Sevaks, ICDS supervisors, etc in different states who have organised themselves into unions under the banner of the CITU and are launching militant struggles in their states facing innumerable difficulties including repression by the state governments. It was because of these struggles and the initiative taken by the CITU and other central trade unions that the union labour ministry had to include ‘the issues of scheme workers’ as an agenda item in the 45th session of the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), the highest tripartite forum of the country in which the various departments of government of India, the state governments, employers’ organisations and central trade unions are represented. After a thorough discussion, the 45th ILC made the following recommendations through general consensus:  The scheme workers should be first recognised as ‘workers’ and not called ‘voluntary workers’ or ‘honorary workers’  They should be paid minimum wages  They should get all the social security benefits like pension, gratuity, maternity benefits etc  To begin with social security schemes like Aam Admi Bima Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana should be extended to these workers  One time gratuity/lump sum payment should be made to anganwadi employees who have already retired or will be retiring in the near future  They should have the right to organise and collective bargaining  The respective departments should formulate ‘employment standing orders’ for these workers to regulate their employment and service conditions  The workers who are employed on contract basis should be retained for all such subsequent activities, and  The service conditions of the teachers and staff of the NCLP schools should be ameliorated along with appropriate infrastructure and amenities It is highly reprehensible that neither the erstwhile Congress led UPA government nor the present BJP led NDA government has taken any measure to implement these decisions related to around one crore workers and employees directly working under their departments. Instead, the present government at the centre has embarked upon amending the labour laws to make it more difficult for the workers to get organised into unions and fight for their demands. It is determined to satisfy the demands of the big corporations and business houses to curtail the rights of the workers in order to protect and increase their profits. This convention affirms that development of strong and united struggles of scheme workers is the only way to force the government to implement the recommendations of 45th session of ILC. It calls upon all the workers and employees working in the different schemes of government of India to get organised on the basis of the schemes in which they are working and develop strong all India movements and struggles on their demands. Organising into trade unions and developing agitations and struggles at state level to bring pressure on both the state and central governments is a prerequisite to develop an all India movement. At the same time, this convention affirms that, given the anti-worker and anti-poor approach of the government, it is also necessary for all the scheme workers, working in different schemes to come together for joint struggles on their common demands. Besides, this convention also calls upon all the scheme workers to join the entire trade union movement in fighting for the reversal of the neo-liberal policies of the government which mandate curtailment of social welfare expenditure and dismantling of the social welfare schemes meant for the poor, particularly women and children. This convention emphasises the importance of the support of the crores of people for whose benefit these schemes are intended, in the struggle for effective implementation of these schemes and for improving the conditions of the scheme workers. It calls upon all the scheme workers to mobilise the support of the beneficiaries, most of them poor peasants, agricultural workers and workers in the unorganised sector in their respective areas and work places to force the government to ensure adequate financial allocations for effective implementation of the schemes as well as for improving the conditions of the scheme workers. It appeals to all the people in the country to wholeheartedly support the struggle for effective implementation of the schemes and improvement in the conditions of the scheme workers. Finally this convention appeals to all the scheme workers to be vigilant against any attempts to divert their attention from the struggle in hand and at weakening their unity on the pretexts of caste, religion, region or gender. It reiterates the importance of unity in strengthening the struggle for achieving decent and dignified working and living conditions for all scheme workers. This convention unanimously places the following demands before the government of India:  Allocate adequate funds to the schemes serving the poor in the union budget 2016 – 17  Recognise all scheme workers as ‘workers’  Ensure minimum wage of Rs 15000, linked to CPI to all scheme workers  Ensure pension, gratuity, provident fund, medical benefits and other social security measures for all scheme workers This national convention of scheme workers calls upon all their organisations to take up a wide countrywide campaign among all sections of scheme workers highlighting the above demands. The campaign may also include giving representations to the elected people’s representatives like MPs and MLAs urging them to support their demand for higher budgetary allocations in the forthcoming union budget and to oppose any curtailment in it. It calls upon all scheme workers to observe an all India demands day in the month of January/February as a culmination of this campaign. It calls upon all the committees and affiliated unions of the CITU to extend their full support to the struggles of scheme workers. It calls upon the people and the beneficiaries of the schemes of government of India to extend their solidarity to the demands of the scheme workers.