THE working class people of Tripura are trying their best to come out on the streets ignoring all threats, intimidation, attacks and hooliganism of the BJP goons. They have organised series of programme during last few months.
On September 5, CITU organised a state level convention in Town Hall where more than one thousand workers from all walks of life participated. The convention adopted a programme for wide spread campaign of January 8 strike.
In the meantime, district wise conventions have been held in all eight districts. Now subdivision level, block level conventional meetings are going on. Street corner meetings, bazaar sabhas will also be conducted wherever it is possible.
Postering programme is going on. In some places rowdy gangsters of BJP are tearing up and damaging the posters. But in most of the places working class people, shopkeepers and others are curiously looking at the posters and their facial expressions are vividly proving their acceptance of the charter of demands written on the posters.
On December 22, a state level convention of young workers, most of whom were of the age group of 18 to 35 years, was organised at Agartala Town Hall. Plantation workers, auto-rickshaw workers, construction workers, hawkers, scheme workers, domestic workers, daily labourers, ie, workers from almost all unorganised sectors of all districts participated in the convention.
Polit Bureau member of CPI(M) and leader of opposition in the state assembly, Manik Sarkar inaugurated the convention. He appreciated this initiative of organising the young workers, with special attention. It will be effective for the working class movement in future, he said. He said the social, economic and political situation of our country is utterly ruined; during the last six years under the BJP regime, it has further more deteriorated. Lakhs of people have lost their jobs. According to the economists of the world repute, rate of unemployment is highest in the last 45 years; suicides by farmers have increased from 40 to 44 per cent. And this BJP government is trying to suppress all these, he added. Manik Sarkar said, in this situation, 10 central trade unions including CITU, have given a strike call for January 8, 2020. The working class people of sectors – small farmers, agriculture workers, employees and teachers; federations of all sectors, are making preparations for a successful all India strike. Demands of the strike show the alternative path of coming out from this economic slowdown. Ensuring employment generation will increase the purchasing power of common people and thus help in coming out from this worst slowdown.
CITU president Manik De in his speech told that the young workers should be given responsibility, and efforts should be made to train and promote them to leadership. And for this, they should be educated with the ideology of CITU and involved in trade union movements.
General Secretary Sankar Prasad Datta and Panchali Bhattacharya, convener of Working Women Coordination Committee also addressed the gathering. Congratulating the young stars they called upon them to come forward to take the responsibility of moving forward the struggle in this situation of crisis and turmoil.
A presidium consisting of Nilanjana Roy, Suparna Marrak, Suman Debnath, Biraj Tanti and CITU president Manik De presided over the convention.
Young workers of 30 to 33 years of age from all districts spoke in the convention. They narrated their experience of the last 21 months. Manik Panika, a tea garden worker of North Tripura district told very sorrowfully  that they are not getting work and are starving with their little ones. In the same way, Uma Ghosh, an ASHA worker of Khowai district narrated the harassment the scheme workers are facing in performing their duties. All of them promised to make the January 8 strike a grand success.
Nilanjana Roy in her presidential address said the policies of communal division and hatred and the economic attacks on common people, working class people perpetrated by this corporate friendly BJP government have to be resisted and this January 8 strike will be a milestone of counter offensive. So we shall have to intensify and strengthen the ongoing struggle of the working class, she said.