• Imperialist chieftain Clinton, Get out of India!
  Statement of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, March 8, 2000

• The working class and the Indian Constitution

• Central Government’s Budget 2000-2001:
  A budget to make the rich richer and the poor poorer

• Sinha targets the poor: Highlights of the budget

• The working class boldly demands

• Railwaymen organise All-India protest program against privatisation

• Construction workers rally in Chennai

• Another terrorist law

Statement of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, March 8, 2000

American imperialism has launched a worldwide economic, military and political campaign to establish its complete and all-sided domination of the whole world. Bill Clinton’ visit to India is aimed at furthering US strategy to conquer India and Asia through economic penetration, political interference and military encirclement. India’s workers and peasants and patriotic intelligentsia stand for freedom and independence of all countries and peoples and for world peace. This is one reason why workers and peasants of India can never welcome Clinton to our soil.

American imperialism is arrogantly demanding that all countries and peoples accept its prescriptions of what should be their economic orientation and what should be their political system. It is openly espousing the doctrine of the colonial era of "might is right" and denying the inalienable right of peoples and nations to their sovereignty. It advocates openly the doctrine of economic blockades and military aggression to force countries and peoples to give up their sovereignty and bend to their knees in front of US imperialism. The past decade has seen the open violation of sovereignty of peoples of Cuba and Korea, of Iraq and Somalia, Yugoslavia and Indonesia and many other countries, inflicting one gruesome tragedy after another on the peoples. Clinton is the vociferous spokesperson and architect of this doctrine. This is another reason Bill Clinton must be shown the door clearly and unambiguously.

American imperialism is pursuing an agenda of globalisation of the world’s economy as part of its offensive against the workers and peasants of the whole world, to increase the exploitation of the toilers of all lands at one pole and the wealth of the multinationals at the other pole. The capitalists and imperialists of the whole world, including the big capitalists and imperialists of India are extremely excited by this course. Bill Clinton is the champion of this course. The workers and peasants of the world are opposed to this course, as has been shown time and again including recently in Seattle and Davos. The workers and peasants of India are fighting for a just world order where the concerns of the people’s will occupy centre stage, and not the narrow interests of imperialist multinationals. This is another reason India’s workers and peasants are saying we do not want Clinton on our soil!

The leopard never changes its spots. US imperialism has been and remains the most bloodthirsty superpower that humankind has had the misfortune to deal with in the past 5 decades and more. During the Cold War period, the hands of this superpower were soaked in the blood of the heroic peoples of Korea, Iraq and Greece, Vietnam and Indo-China, Cuba and Nicaragua and other peoples of Latin America, Indonesia and Iran and people of so many other countries who were fighting for national and social liberation. The end of the cold war has greatly increased the appetite of this bloodthirsty imperialist marauder. The language it talks, the slogans it uses may be slightly different, but its aims are the same. Earlier it talked in terms of fighting communism. Now it talks of fighting "Islamic fundamentalism" and "terrorism", and "defending" human rights. Then and now, its fight has been against the workers and peasants and peoples of the whole world, against their freedom and sovereignty. Then and now, its fight is to establish the supremacy of the interests of US and world capital over labour. It is the enemy and the main block to the peoples of the world taking to the highroad of civilisation.

Bill Clinton comes to India to preach the so-called "new", "third way" doctrine of the imperialists. He will shed "tears" about the poor and hungry, about his "concern" for workers and peasants, his "concern" for human rights, his "concern" for peace in South Asia and the world. We Indians are used to 53 years of such crocodile tears shed by bourgeois politicians starting from Nehru to Vajpayee. Their words and deed are diametrically opposite. Such is the way of the Clintons and imperialists of the world. He comes here to increase India’s poverty and the wealth of America’s rich. He comes here to extend his support to the blatant violation of human rights by the Indian bourgeoisie. He comes here to further stoke the flames of conflict between India and Pakistan in particular and in Asia in general. India’s workers and peasants know the ways of the imperialists of the world and their spokespersons like Clinton. That is why we the workers and peasants of India say with one voice—

Imperialist Chieftain Bill Clinton, Get out of India!

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The constitution of a country is the fundamental law of the land. On this fundamental law, so to speak, are formulated all other laws. The Constitution represents the legalization of the rule of the class in power. It deprives certain classes of power and formalizes the power of the ruling class. In India, our constitution formalizes the power of the big bourgeoisie and deprives the workers and peasants of all nations, nationalities and tribes of power. This is the "basic structure" of the constitution, which is to be defended.

The opportunists in the working class movement create a lot of hullabaloo that there is something positive for the working class in the Indian Constitution that the BJP allegedly wants to remove. That is why they make a lot of noise about defending its "basic structure". The Indian Constitution declares in its preamble that it is a secular democratic socialist republic. The secular, socialist, and democratic content are obviously not part of the "basic structure". This is what the practice of the past 50 years shows in terms of communal violence against Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and other religious and national minorities, the increase at one pole of wealth and at the other pole of poverty. The Directive Principles of governance of the Indian Constitution do not constitute, obviously, the "basic structure", as they have been violated more often then not. What remains and is the basic structure is that the state power, the armed might of the state has been, is and will continue to be used to suppress the revolt of the toiling masses against the unjust system, to preserve the rule of the capitalists and landlords and imperialists. On this there is complete agreement between the bourgeois parties and amongst the opportunists in the working class movement.

Why has the bourgeoisie unleashed a discussion on changing the Constitution at the present time? The fact that the 1950 Constitution is designed to uphold and defend the class interests of the bourgeoisie does not mean however that this bourgeoisie can have no interest in changing it. The deepening political crisis of the bourgeois rule, reflected in the growing use of state terrorism and in the inability of any single party to maintain itself in power for long, is a development of some concern to the bourgeoisie. Another development is the requirements of globalisation of the economy. Over the past 50 years, the Constitution has been amended about 80 times by the bourgeoisie to serve its needs at different times. But now there is a push for a more comprehensive restructuring to meet the needs of the bourgeoisie in the present conditions.

Under these circumstances, the working class and people should not have the slightest illusion that what is being contemplated by the bourgeoisie now in the name of constitutional reform can be in any way in the people’s interests. At the same time, the working class and people must not fall into the trap of opposing any new moves by the bourgeoisie to strengthen its rule, from the standpoint of defending the existing thoroughly anti-people Constitution or any part of it. What the bourgeoisie wants the people to do is precisely this: either line up behind the bourgeois agenda for political change, or else line up behind the slogan of ‘defending the 1950 Constitution’. Both courses of action hold absolutely nothing for the masses of people. What is worse, the bourgeoisie hopes to engender more divisions in the ranks of the working people on these lines. Already, there are signs that in some areas, the ruling class agenda of reviewing the Constitution has become a divisive factor among sections of the working people.

What the ruling bourgeoisie does not want is that the working class and people move resolutely ahead on the only path that can lead the country out of the present situation of political crisis and deadlock arising out of its bankrupt and self-serving rule. This is the path of the working class and people developing and uniting around their own clear and independent agenda for political change, which will open the way for the people to take power in their own hands away from the hands of the bourgeoisie. Only this path will put an end to poverty and the exploitation and oppression of the toiling people. Only this will ensure a decent livelihood, human dignity and security of life for all, as well as rights for all those who are denied equality and justice under the existing system, including the various nations and nationalities, the tribal peoples, dalits, women, minorities, and others.

The communists and workers are by no means indifferent to the debate on the Constitution. On the contrary, they can and must use the occasion to further expose the present system, further expose how the Indian Constitution reflects the class rule of the big bourgeoisie that came to power in August of 1947. They must expose the kind of changes that are being proposed to the Constitution and show how they are once again dictated only by the class needs of the bourgeoisie today. Fighting the tendency within the communist movement to conciliate with social-democratic illusion mongering about the Constitution, they must compare and contrast the present constitution with one that could be the fundamental law of the land if state power was in the hands of workers and peasants. While doing so, they must clearly put forth that it is only when the workers, in alliance with the peasants and other toiling people, succeed in taking power in their own hands, that they will give rise to their own Constitution which will proclaim to the whole world the dawn of a New India.

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A budget to make the rich richer and the poor poorer

A lot of propaganda is being done in the bourgeois press that Sinha has actually not been as harsh as he intended to be in the budget and that he has let the fiscal deficit to remain high for populist reasons. This kind of propaganda is a favourite trick of the bourgeoisie. The attack on the working people actually starts well before the budget measures are announced and continues well after the budget is approved in Parliament. Generally some "concessions" are offered during the budget debate in Parliament to please the opposition parties and make a pretence that the people’s voices are heard. But, the budget of the bourgeoisie, however well it is camouflaged, cannot but bear the stamp of the hunger for profits and the imperialist ambitions of the big bourgeoisie.

The most brazen feature of this budget, the one which the working class has to oppose tooth and nail is the hike in the defence budget. A staggering sum of Rs. 58,587 crores has been allocated for the arms merchants to spread death and destruction all in the name of "reducing obsolescence and accelerating modernisation". This hike of Rs. 13,000 crores from the previous year is the highest ever. For the Indian people this should be no surprise because after every war that the Indian bourgeoisie has waged before, the defence budget has shot up by leaps and bounds. It doubled during 1963-64 after the Sino-Indian war. It increased by about 50 per cent in 1971-72 after the Bangladesh war. The pattern shows that more than the wars justifying an increased defence budget, it is the hunger for profits of the war merchants that has been justifying wars. Over and above this diversion of funds to the merchants of death, the Prime Minister has made a jingoist statement that "more money would be provided whenever needed", indicating that further increases may be made through supplementary demands for defence.

A part of this funding of the war machinery will come from the further impoverisation of the poor who have to pay more for sugar, wheat and rice that they purchase through the public distribution system. Earlier, the public distribution system had been severely clipped by the bourgeoisie and renamed as the Targeted Public Distribution System to cater to only families below the "poverty line". Now, even this subsidy is being curtailed. The issue price of sugar will rise from Rs. 12 to Rs. 13 per kg. The price of wheat will increase from Rs. 2.50 to Rs. 4.20 per kg. Rice will cost dearer from Rs. 3.50 to Rs. 5.90 per kg. On the whole, the diversion of funds from the food, sugar and fertiliser subsidies would be nearly Rs. 2000 crores.

Another way that huge amounts of money are diverted to the pockets of the rich, depriving even basic necessities to the people, is through huge handouts in the form of interest payments on loans taken by the central government. In this year’s budget, interest payments will be a staggering Rs. 1,01,266 crores, the biggest expenditure item in the whole budget. Except for the interest paid on pension and provident funds, the rest of the amount goes directly into the hands of the biggest financial monopolies and big capitalist conglomerates.

The central government is hugely indebted to Indian and foreign capitalists and imperialists. Internal debt of the government which is mainly made up of market borrowings currently amounts to nearly Rs. 7 lakh crores. This is about 36% of the GDP. What this means is that the internal debt of the Indian government is more than one-third of the entire produce of India in a year. While millions of people are deprived of even the bare necessities of life, the capitalists to whom the Indian government is indebted, have been having the first claim on the surplus generated through the sweat and toil of the working people.

The external debt of the Indian government to imperialist financial institutions siphons out another big chunk of the surplus generated in the Indian economy. The external liabilities of the central government on the basis of the prevailing exchange rate stands at Rs. 1.78 lakh crores.

In short, interest payments and defence expenditure, the two most unproductive expenditures in any economy, add upto about Rs. 1.58 lakh crores. One can easily see that the entire fiscal deficit, about which the bourgeoisie is making such a hue and cry, can be completely wiped out if these expenditures are curtailed. Not only that. By diverting the savings in this expenditure towards providing food, clothing and housing subsidies for the workers and peasants, poverty can be eliminated very fast. All subsidies put together now add up to around Rs. 21,000 crores, a fraction of the unproductive expenditure on defence and interest payments. In reality, however, a major portion of these subsidies actually never reach the people and are cornered by the middlemen. Given this fact, the arguments of the bourgeois economists that slashing down subsidies, while at the same time increasing the allocation on unproductive expenses, will somehow solve the fiscal deficit stand thoroughly exposed.

Another comparison of unproductive and parasitic expenditure with the money allocated for social services in this year’s budget proves clearly that the present orientation of the Indian economy is towards maximising the wealth and profits of big capitalists and not towards maximising the well-being of the people. The entire expenditure on social services allocated in this year’s budget – for education, public health, water supply, housing, urban development, welfare services, social security, nutrition, development of the north-eastern areas, etc. – adds upto Rs. 23,000 crores, again a fraction of the money appropriated by the capitalists in defence deals and interest payments. It is an irony that while thousands of infants die at birth and millions of people get wiped out in floods and drought, the government of the capitalists claims that it is a higher national priority to modernise the army and pay interest to the bloodsucking moneylenders.

From the budget allocations one can estimate the share of the national income that the capitalists are appropriating. But, what never comes to light are the invisible handouts made to the big capitalists in the form of tax and duty waivers. The capitalists loot the national treasury of thousands of crores of tax and duty income through these waivers. For example, all software exports are exempted from tax. Umpteen other concessions are given to capitalists in the form of duty exemptions, free land and infrastructure, tax holidays and so on.

All this means that if the rich are taxed, unproductive expenses are curtailed or eliminated and siphoning of the surplus generated in the economy to the pockets of the capitalists is cut off; then all the working people in India can have the first claim to this surplus and live without want and deprivation. It need not take decades to eliminate poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, malnutrition and other ills affecting society today.

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During the protest program, railmen raised a number of vital issues including privatisation of various railway activities, safety, wasteful expenditure, down-sizing of staff, non-filling of vacancies, ban on recruitment of employees and non-settlement of various issues pertaining to their service conditions.

What are the issues which are causing so much concern to the railway employees? People's Voice is presenting some of these to its readers to acquaint them with the struggle of railwaymen.

Privatisation is a big threat facing the railway employees, the commuters and passengers and the common people at large.The Railway Ministry has decided to convert its six production units into independent cost and profit centres, paving the way to their privatisation. These units are – Diesel Locomotive Works (Lucknow), which manufactures diesel locomotives, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (Calcutta), which manufactures electrical locomotives, Integral Coach Factory (Chennai) and Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala), both manufacturing all types of coaches, Wheel and Axle plant (Bangalore) and Diesel Component Works (Patiala). These production workshops have been meeting all the requirements of the Indian Railways. As per the latest decision, they are going to collaborate with multinational companies.

Many other activities have also been privatised, as we shall shortly see. While the railways are expanding their activities by introducing new trains, computer reservation centres and other activities, they are reducing the number of employees instead of increasing them, pleading shortage of funds. The plan is to reduce the staff strength from about 16 lakhs to 10 lakhs. This means that the burden on the employees is reaching unbearable proportions and this has a bearing on safety too.

The Railways have been ignoring the recommendations of various High Power Committees relating to various aspects of railway safety. Whenever there is an accident (and their number and seriousness has been increasing day by day), they try to do a cover up job saying that the accident was due to human failure. The Railway Ministry is silent about the latest recommendations of the Justice H.R.Khanna Committee for Rs.15000crores for safety and Rs.5000crore for track renewal. Safety is also affected due to contract work for track maintenance, substations, over-burdening of staff due to non-filling of vacancies and several other reasons.

Privatisation, down-sizing and safety considerations in the various departments:

Mechanical:

¨ Reduction in the number of workers looking after the trains.

¨ The Brake Power Check Depot has been closed down and the number of workers reduced.

¨ The supply of tools and material required for maintenance has been stopped.

Electrical:

¨ Maintenance of AC units, electrical instruments at stations, maintenance and wiring of stations and colonies, the task of removing birds’ nests, cable joints, lights in tunnels and the winding of engines have been handed over to contractors.

¨ The running of substations is moving towards contract system.

Engineering:

¨ Construction and maintenance of railway housing, station buildings, bridges and roads, rail line binding, deep screening, changing lines, night patrolling, track binding, etc. have been privatised.

¨ After changing wooden sleepers to RCC, the workforce has been reduced, resulting in an unbearable burden on those workers who are left.

Telecommunications:

¨ As the number of tracks is increasing, the number of electrical signals, automatic changing points, etc. has been increased, but the number of workers has been reduced.

¨ Building Central Cabin Exchanges, erecting automatic signals, laying cables, etc. has been given over to contractors.

Commercial:

¨ Parcel loading and unloading, SLR, running of many stations has been privatised.

¨ Parcel Depot has been shut down and more than 60% of the Goods, Parcel and Luggage Traffic have been transferred to the roads.

¨ Privatisation of computer ticket booking is under consideration.

¨ Since the number of employees manning the ticket windows is inadequate, this causes great hardship to the passengers.

Running:

¨ The number of ASM, pointsmen TNC has been reduced. The work of the signal exchange has stopped. This has grave repercussions for safety.

¨ Without filling up vacancies, the workers are being made to do double and even triple duty.

¨ Neglecting safety con-siderations, the tonnage of trains has been increased from 1600 to 3600.

¨ As against the standards laid down by the Railway Board, trains are being run in the ghat sections with only 75% brake power.

¨ Due to improper maintenance of locomotives and coaches, the likelihood of accidents has increased.

¨ Due to shortage of employees, they have to work for 12 hours at a stretch.

¨ Brake Power Certificate (BPC) is not being given to drivers. Due to poor quality of walkie-talkies, the driver cannot even find out the brake power strength.

¨ Material trains are being run without BPC.

Stores:

¨ The store delivery train has been stopped and the work has been handed over to the road transport. The number of workers has been reduced.

¨ The store items have been cut down and the number of local purchase employees has been reduced.

¨ There is a conspiracy to hand over the work of printing to private presses and close down the railway press.

Factory:

¨ Though big machines and tools can be manufactured in the railway workshops, these are being ordered from outside and the number of workers is being reduced.

¨ The number of hours required for production has been reduced by 12% and the number of workers has been reduced.

¨ There is a conspiracy to reduce the quality of maintenance by not supplying materials and tools in the required quality and quantity.

¨ There is a conspiracy to sell off the workshops.

General:

¨ 90% of the Railway Departmental Catering Services have been contracted out to private parties.

¨ Major parts of maintenance of stations, railway colonies, engineering works, railway track, electrical substations, bedroll supply and several other activities have been given to contractors.

¨ Several activities such as cleaning and washing, printing, manufacture of components, reservations, etc. have also been off-loaded to private parties.

¨ Computerisation has resulted in reduction of the workforce increasing the burden on workers.

¨ Railwaymen point out that several issues have been pending for a long time. These include: anomalies of various scales of pay, excess duty hours, non-supply of proper uniforms, promotions, appointments on compassionate grounds, ill-treatment, non-maintenance of quarters, colonies, office premises, inadequate provision of latrines, wash rooms, rest rooms, ladies’rooms, tiffin rooms, gangmen’s huts, etc.

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On 6th March, over 10,000 construction workers from all over Tamil Nadu participated in a rally in Chennai. This was organized by the Kattada Thozhilalar Panchayat Sangam. The rally started from Anna Salai and proceeded towards the secretaiat of Tamil Nadu government.Over a thousand workers were arrested for trying to exercise their right to peaceful protest.

Ms. Geetha, the leader of the Sangathan, while addressing the rally denounced the government and the police who have even denied the workers permission to gather in any of the roads leading to the secretariat. Asking what kind of system is it and what kind of representative are they who do not even want to see the condition of the mass of the workers nor listen to their demands, she announced that they would not go back, but hold the rally and the demonstration as planned.

The rally was stopped by the police near the Government Guest House and workers were not allowed to reach the secretariat to meet the ministers and other officials. Here workers held a militant meeting. Meeting was addressed by Ms. Geetha who pointed out that the rich and big capitalists both foreign and Indian are accorded red carpet welcome, whereas the workers of this land who toil day and night to make this country rich and produce everything are treated like dogs. Many schemes for the workers are merely on paper, while the actual allocations in the budget are made only for the rich and the workers are being cheated. She demanded immediate implementation of long standing demands of the workers and the necessary allocations be done in the budget. Following her, Ms. Palayam of Pennurumai Iyakkam, various activits of the Kattada Thozhilalar Panchayat Sangam from all over Tamil Nadu spoke in the meeting. Leaders of different workers unions also spoke supporting the demands of the workers.

The construction workers are demanding compensation for loss of work during the monsoon season, as being offered to the fishermen. They are demanding the full implementation of the law prepared by the National Campaign Committee under the chairmanship of Justice VR Krishna Iyer. They are demanding that suitable allocations are made in the forthcoming budget so that all the demands of the workers can be met. They are demanding immediate implementation of their long standing demands.

Their major demands are :

* ESI, PF and pension funds should be implemented.

* Once the workers reach 58 years or if they die earlier, provide them 50,000 Rupees.

* Instead of demolishing the huts, provide the workers with houses.

* For all those workers who are houseless, provide them with government lands.

* Job opportunity and the regularisation of wages and all workers should be registered under the construction workers board.

* Stop the mechanisation of the construction industry and the globalization of this industry.

* Seriously implement the workers board and provide all the assistance to the construction workers without furhter delay.

People’s Voice fully supports the just demands of these workers who build all the roads, buildings and the bridges and everything that we see in this society, but majority of whom stay out on the pavements and open space round the year without any shelter. The program of the working class that the Communist Ghadar Party of India has put forward, "Hum hai iiske malik" is precisely the program to ensure that the real builders of India become its masters in the true sense of the word.

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Everyday we are told that terrorism is a growing problem, and that enemy countries are out to destabilise India. In order to counter this the government has come up with a law that is guaranteed to create terrorists out of all of us. The Criminal Law Amendment Bill, which is nothing but TADA II, is to be scheduled in parliament soon.

The PUDR held a meeting at the Indian Law Institute on Saturday, 11 March, in order to highlight the dangerous provisions of this bill and mobilise public opinion against it. The speakers included Rakesh Shukla from PUDR and K. Balagopal from Andhra Pradesh, one of the states which was badly affected by TADA.

According to Home Ministry sources, 76,000 people were arrested under TADA, of which only about 1% were actually convicted. TADA was used against all those with whom the government disagreed. Minorities were especially badly affected. TADA had to be repealed because of public protest, but soon after the government tried to bring in the Criminal Law Amendment Bill which did away with some of the worst provisions of TADA like admitting confessions before police officers as evidence. In the Rajya Sabha debate on the Bill in 1995, Ram Jethmalani had said, "You have created a law of which any decent person should be ashamed." Sushma Swaraj is on record as saying, "We accept that TADA has not only been misused, but has been misused flagrantly. "

Now the same ministers are pushing for a Law which goes back to the earlier provisions of TADA and introduces some even worse clauses. The Criminal Amendment Law, if passed, will apply all over India, not just disturbed areas. It punishes failure to report information about terrorist acts, making all the villagers in Naxalite areas into terrorists by this act of omission. It punishes a trade union or other mass movement if it questions sovereignty or supports secession. It allows confiscation of property by the police. It allows confessions before police to be used as evidence, thus giving full reign to police to torture. The identity of the witness can be concealed during cross-examination. Appeal is only to the Supreme Court and must be made within 30 days. These are only some of the draconian clauses of CLA and violate all principles of natural justice. Since a terrorist act is defined as those acts which are intended to ‘overawe the government, or strike terror in the people", all legitimate activity by trade unions or mass movements can be described as terrorist. Worse, this act does not restrict itself to terrorist acts actually committed; it punishes intentions and motives. If we do not prevent this Bill from being passed, any one of us might be considered a terrorist.

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